Weapon neXt
by IronRaven
Summary: What can be made can be copied. Even the Weapon X project. It's best product must do something he doesn't want to, but he isn't going alone this time- Logan is picking mutant strike force with a mission. A mission of destruction.
1. Chapter 1

**Weapon neXt  
**by Ironraven, with editing/beta-reading by BabyBeaver

What one man makes, another man can copy. A machine. A chemical. A physics package. A poem, a painting, a home. Almost anything, really, even a little girl.

If you've not read my other peices, this is the part of an arch. The timeline is as follows:  
Graduation - They Never Trained Me (1 - 7) - Home to Meet the Family - Staying Home This Holiday - New Years New Beginnings - Never Trained (8 - 16) - Spring Break - Institutional Fairytale (timing imprecise) - Never Trained (17-25)

Fair warning: This will be a little bit messier than most of what I've written. There will be fighting. There will be bloodshed. There will be profanity. There will be nonsexual nudity and the acknowledgment that yes, people have sex, but there will be no smut. I think it is kid friendly, but I grew up weird, so the warning and rating stand. It is teen friendly.

**_-neXt-_**

Sunday morning paper. A big breakfast full of meat and cholesterol and fat. Bottomless cup of black coffee. Early enough that people aren't in a diner. Logan was enjoying a little peace and quiet.

Then _he_ walked in.

"Mind if I join you?" Nick Fury slipped onto the other bench, tossing a large manila envelope on the table.

"Yeah I do. What do you want?"

Fury's voice was soft. "Are you sure X-23 died in that crash?"

"Positive." Logan in this tone of voice would had made most of the X-men nervous- this was a deadly question. She'd been hiding at the Institute for just over a year now, and they'd done everything short of plastic surgery to keep her out of the system so Fury wouldn't find her. Logan hadn't even been sure that letting her go to school was a good idea, but she wanted to treated like everyone else. He growled angrily. "Her bones would have burned- even if we never found her claws, that fire melted titanium, she couldn't have survived that."

"What if she had."

Logan's face hardened, his voice harsh. "She'd have come to the Institute by now."

"I'm sorry. It must have felt like you were losing a sister." Fury genuinely seemed to be apologetic. Or he was a great actor. "I had to ask. We had a possible sighting of her, about five months ago." He opened the envelope, taking out a stack of photos. "Security camera footage." He flipped the first one over.

Logan picked it up. "Short girl with long brown hair, so what?"

"Stealing technical information about nanites in France. Security showed up a few minutes later." Another photo- she was wearing a mask and night vision goggles. The third showed a spray of blood at bullets punched through her, her body falling.

"Yeah, thanks, I want to see a little girl getting shot while I'm trying to eat."

"Don't worry, it gets better." She is still standing, bloodied from her wounds. Two claws sticking out of each fist. The next photo showed her gutting a guard with a spin kick that had a foot claw in it. "Are you sure that this is not X-23?"

"Positive. She died two years ago in Canada, you were there." Logan flexed his fingers, remembering the feel of her foot claw as she made him let go of the ladder. They flexed the same way when she let him hug her, stroke her hair. His voice was turning coldly angry, his appetite gone. "Where did this come from?"

"Not sure I should tell you, but there is more. After Dr Risman left HYDRA we changed her identity. Two nights ago, what we believed to be X-23 showed up at the safehouse we were keeping Dr Kinney in. She killed sixteen of my men and her creator." One of the photo showed what was left of Dr Risman/Kinney. It had been fast, but it wasn't neat.

An 'X' had been drawn on the wall in a blood.

Two nights ago Laura had started watching her favorite movie, _The Seven Samurai_, and fallen asleep curled up against Alex. It was easily her favorite- she'd watched it three times in a year, when before she'd never seen a movie that wasn't for training.

The security photos clearly showed Laura killing SHEILD agents two nights ago.

"OK, so this not X-23 has a boyfriend, to." A large, husky shape was seen charging into frame. Long blond hair streaming. He wasn't bothering with night vision. The next shot of him showed him elbow deep in the chest of one of the guards.

"What? That looks like a younger version of Creed!"

"I guess they had access to a lot of Weapon X data. He got the other nine guards, plus the lab data and a Honda." Fury glanced at the small plate of toast beside the omelette and pancakes. "You gonna finish that?" Without waiting for an answer, he plucked one of the slices of whole wheat up, taking a large bite after smearing on a little jelly.

Logan was studying the photos spread out in front of him intently. The queen snake herself had admitted that Laura had nearly crippled the organization single handedly. He and SHIELD had just picked up the loose threads. Fury had sworn that HYDRA was gone, sworn it on Steve's cryocontainer. "I thought we'd cut off all the heads." He picked up envelope, pulling out a sheaf of papers. He ruffled through them quickly. Photos, invoices, flight schedules, credit card and bank records. There were even a few computer disks. "Is this everything you've got?"

"Yeah. Facial recognition found them in the data base. They'd flown into JFK from Moscow on Aeroflot. They were next spotted crossing the border in Vermont under different ID; the car they stole from JFK long term parking was found in Quebec yesterday. We've got the three IDs they've used. Still trying to find where they went from there, but I'm thinking it is a safe bet they aren't in the North America."

"Fine." Logan scooped up the papers, stuffing them back in the envelope. "Is there any other information?"

"Why? Are you asking me for a contract? I'd send the Brotherhood, but they are chasing someone in Afghanistan, I don't want to pull them off that."

Logan tucked the envelope into his jacket, before tossing some bills on the table.

**Author's notes:  
**Laura and Lil-Creed. I think we can all imagine how Logan feels about Fury's insinuation; anyone want to tell Victor for me?**  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Weapon neXt  
**by Ironraven, with editing/beta-reading by BabyBeaver

-_neXt-_-

"Logan, I'm not sure I like what you are proposing."

"I know Charles. You'll have my resignation on your desk within the hour, and I'll be gone before noon." Wolverine looked out the window. Somewhere out there, he was going to have to let the beast out. "I want you to take care of Laura. Make her a ward of the Institute, like you did Rogue and Jamie and Scott. That is the only thing I ask, keep her safe, don't let her be like me." Logan's fist tightened. He didn't want her being a box of anger, violence and lost memory; he wanted her to be better than him.

"And what would you have me tell her? She has your nose- she knows a lie when she hears it. And you know she's quite capable of crossing the continent on her own. She would follow you." Professor Xavier picked up a pen, playing with it absently as he thought. "There may be greater consequences than you are thinking. She also inherited your magnetism, there are those here who are as devoted to her as they are to you- if she was to leave to look for you, others would go with her."

Logan sighed and scrubbed his face against his palms. The times he'd tried to run off on his own, someone had always followed or at least tried. "I can think of three, right away. Not like we can ground them any more. I'm going to make hash of this no matter what I do."

"Only if you do it alone. If this second X-23 attacks SHEILD enough times, they will come here. They'll find her, and then will ask what else we've hidden. We may not be able to keep the students out of their custody. It is bad enough they have the Brotherhood." It was a dream he'd had too many times. Agents with weapons stalking the halls, trying to capture the students, helicopters overhead. Sometimes the kids surrendered in the dream, sometimes they ran, and others, they started a war. Charles didn't know Fury the way Logan did, but he thought the man was a blind patriot; he'd kill millions if he felt it was the best thing for the nation.

"So we'll both leave! We'll take one of the other bikes, report it as stolen. We'll even trash something on the way out, so I look like a disgruntled employee. Maybe burn that garden shed Ororo wants to replace."

Charles smiled his indulgent-and-secretive smile, but his eyes smoldered with a cold anger. "I'm not sure that will be needed. Someone is attempting to damage the reputation of one of my students, and by extension, endangering all of us. I don't need to know details, but if you take, say, _Blackbird-1_ I'd like it if you checked in every few days. Ask for volunteers, but only a few."

Logan stared wide eyed for a moment. "What are you saying, Charles?"

"I'm saying, this is a job that needs the talents of the X-man, but must not be connected to the X-men. Do what you need to, the gloves come off but only long enough to protect us all." _And may God have mercy on my soul. _

_-neXt-_

In the Danger Room, some of the students were running an unscheduled simulation. At least they'd bothered to get an instructor to sit in the control room this time. Kurt waved his tail in greeting as Logan entered. "Kurt, I need you shut it down."

"Logan, are you... Alright?"

"No." He shook his head. "I need to talk to Laura."

This wasn't a normal mood for Logan. Actually, the only time Kurt had seen him like this was when they discovered the Professor had been kidnapped by Mystique. He slapped his palm on the shut down button. Nightcrawler leaned down to the mic, "Sorry guys. Vhe haf a possible situation."

Logan grabbed the mic, pulling it over. "Laura, I need to talk to you right now. My room." He walked to the door. "And Kurt, find Gumbo, Rogue and Kitty, I want to talk will all of you in an hour, in the little classroom."

In the Danger Room, Laura frowned- she hated being pulled off a mission, even if it was only training. Everyone looked between her and the control booth. This sounded bad. The Professor sometimes read someone the riot act in his study, but this was private. And bad. No one said anything, but there were silent gestures, the most noticeable Alex's hand on her shoulder as she left.

She started to say something, but she stopped at Logan's hand gesture to wait. The both of them walked briskly. She could tell something was wrong but it wasn't for general knowledge.

He gestured to the chair at his desk, inviting her to sit before he closed the door. He turned on the radio loader than normal, and spoke softly. "Laura, we need to talk."

"You said that already."

He pulled the folded photo from his pocket, looking at the paper in his hand. This was awkward, it was something he didn't know how to do very well. "I know Dr Risman treated you well. Before. At least as well as she could."_At HYDRA._

"What has happened?"

Any other student, he would have tried to shield them from the details, it wasn't something someone should see. His hands curled into fists, around the image of her dead creator. "We think HYDRA found her. They killed her, night before last."

He'd almost expected tears, or maybe an angry outburst. Her face went still, emotionless. She reached for the paper in his hand, pulling them free with a sharp tug. He didn't fight it. She stared at the image for several silent minutes.

"Laura, I"m going to be leaving. Maybe with a few others. We're going to find her killers."

"And then what? Turn them over to the police? To SHEILD? Or are you going to kill them." Her tone made it clear she preferred the latter option.

"That depends on what they do. I want you to stay here, at the mansion."

She looked at him like he'd just spoken in an alien language, before throwing the paper at him, standing. "NO! I know who killed her! I need to be with you, I need to do this!"

"Look, Laura-"

"I'm not a child Logan! You can't protect me from the monsters." She glared. "Two claws; look at the pictures, two claws." She made a fist, baring hers. "I killed her, but I was here. That means they made another one of me. They made a copy of me; X-23 killed Dr Risman."

_-neXt-_

Logan closed the door. He looked at the group he'd assembled. It was a good team. "I need four volunteers for something. You're my best choices."

Rogue raised her eyebrows. "For what?"

"I can't tell you. This one is further off the books than we've ever done and we can never talk about it afterwards. I need to know if you are in or out now."

"Yur askin' a lot, Logan." Rogue glanced at her friends. Expressions of concern were on all of their faces.

"Is this vhy you had to talk to Laura?"

"Can't tell you yet. I can only say it will be scary, dangerous and it might give you nightmares for a while. If you don't die."

"Mon ami, dis what has Laura thinking of murder? Petite is poppin' 'er hind claws when she walks."

"Yeah, Logan, she look pissed. Not the normal annoyed, but scary mad." Kitty had last seen her younger friend in their room, starting to pack a bag.

It just hit him at a level below the intellectual and emotional that this was both of Laura's roommates and their boyfriends. Four of her closest friends. Only way it could get worse is if Alex and Betsy were part of this. They'd seen her come apart at the seams, and they'd also heard her laugh more times than he had. These four were her friends as much as they were his, Remy quite a bit more so. They couldn't be detached, any more then he could. They were part of what she thought of as family; _he_ thought of them as his special students, they were as important to him as Laura was. If he had to balance between his daughter, and Kitty or Rogue or Kurt, he wasn't sure he could.

The more he thought about, the closer Logan was to changing his mind. It would look like he was playing favorites in some ways, and in others it would look like he was setting up his own hit squad. Or crime family. And if they didn't come back, he'd be responsible. He couldn't get them killed. If one of these three didn't come back, he'd never be able to look in a mirror again. "Look, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Forget everything I just said and get out of here."

"Logan, yah wanted _us_." Rogue held up her fingers to stop him from saying anything more. "Look, yer like my big brother. Yah said 'help me', and now Ah'm helpin'. Yah can't change yer mind now."

"Unt that makes you like _my_ older brother." Kurt grinned, his tail lashing the air. "If it is so bad vhe have to be sworn to secrecy first, fine, that says it is really bad. Saving the world bad."

Kitty giggled. "And I'm number three, although you're more like an uncle to me. And we've saved the world before."

"Guys..." Logan was getting more uncomfortable. He didn't like their logic. "Look, I picked you for a couple of reasons. You're all legally adults, so you can sign up for something dangerous and maybe die in the process. You don't teach anything that no one else can, so you're all expendable. And you've got the skills I need. I need people who can get in and out of places. Rogue, I need a good second in command and you can drive just about anything. All of you have at least basic pilot training. Kurt, you're as good a pilot as Scott. Kitty, you're a computer geek- I might need one. Gambit, I need someone who can blow stuff up, and you could steal anything. All of you speak a couple of languages well enough to get by. I'm not picking you because of who, but what you are. This isn't a day at the mall." He glared at them.

Kurt snorted. "Das is different from being an X-man how?"

"Logan, if there were other people who could do it, would you still have asked for the three of us?" Kitty gestured towards Kurt and Rogue. "We were just kids when we started watching your back." She ignored that it had only been a few years. She _did_ know that that would get his attention.

"Maybe." After a moment, he threw up his hands. He'd watched these three go from being scared, slightly screwed up kids to upright and outstanding young people. They could do the job, and they would want to do the job. And she was right, they had watched his back even when he didn't want them to. They were loyal to him, personally, and he trusted them with something more important than just his own life. The only people he'd want more was maybe Cap or Storm. Steve would have really enjoyed this mission- save some kids, stop some bad guys before they can take over the world. He wouldn't take 'Ro, not because he was trying to protect her, but because he needed her to protect the students. "Yes, I would. Alright?"

Remy had been sitting on one of the school desks, fidgeting with cards while the Wolverine had tried to talk someone into changing their mind. "An' yah still ain't sure Remy can be trusted, so Ah can get fed to de guard dogs, eh mon ami?"

Logan chuckled. He wouldn't have put it that way, but it wasn't far off. "OK, the four of you are going to be my accomplices. Pack your passports."

_-neXt-_

Alex knocked on the door frame before looking around it. "Laura?"

She snapped the battery cover of her night vision gear back into place. She hadn't worn it in a while, but the self check said all was well with the electronic device. The look in her eyes flickered between anger and sorrow, with flashes of rage when she looked at him. "Go away Alex."

"What is this?" He waved his hand over the tools on her bed- her survival gear, spare clothes, batteries, lock picks, an electronics tool kit, cold and hot weather gear. Even her swim fins and wet suit were on the bed. "Your dad pulls you out of training and now you are packing." Not even a little glare- it bugged her when he called Logan her dad, that should have gotten bare teeth at least. "I could follow you from his room to the equipment rooms to here from the snags in the carpet. Want to tell me what is going on?"

She stuffed her winter layers into a compression bag before packing it into a duffle big enough for her to fit in. "I do not want you to see this, Alex. Please get out."

"Laura? Please, tell me what is happening." He put his hands on the scuba mask, holding it down when she reached for it. "Laura, you're scaring me. It looks like you are packing for a war or something."

She growled at him. She'd never growled at him. He had the poise to not flinch, although he'd made a point of stopping in the mens room before coming in here. She gave him The Glare- only Logan had ever gotten The Glare. "Leave. Me. In. Peace. Please."

"Fine." He stepped back. He glanced at the bed again. "Where is Ursa?" He'd given her a stuffed bear for Christmas, after she had let slip that she'd never had one. The leather jacketed polar bear had been received with clumsy courtesy, but he had it on good sources that the badass biker bear had been on her bed every night since, even before they were a couple. It helped keep the nightmares at bay. "Already packed?"

"No. This is working gear only." She continued packing her equipment. "I asked Betsy to hold the bear while I'm gone; if I don't come back, it goes back to you. I also am giving you to her in my will."

"WHAT!" If he'd been sitting, no one would have seen young Havoc stand up. As it was, his hair stood on end. " 'If I don't come back'? Damnit, Laura, you aren't going off to die. Whats happening."

Laura angrily threw a tool case on her bed, probes and picks and shims for locks spilling out. "I can't die!" She stalked towards him, barely chin tall on him but dwarfing him with her presence. Her voice was quiet. "I'm going to go kill people so no one comes looking for me here. I'm going to do something I hate to keep you and Betsy and the Professor and the others safe! " She grabbed his shoulders, pushing him down into the papa-san chair. She drew a ragged breath, catching her anger before it could get much further. It wasn't directed at him, she was saving it for the people who put it there. "I'm sorry Alex, but you can't come with me. Logan and I have to do this, so only the bad guys die. I can't tell you anything more."

"Is it classified?" Being pushed around like that had taken Alex down a few notches. For a moment, he had been afraid of his girlfriend. It hadn't been the Laura he knew. It had been the ghost of X-23 he was talking to, but it was safe. Laura was in control.

"I've told you too much, you can't tell anyone anything. Not even Scott, ok?" She kissed his forehead before standing. "Please, just stay here. If everything goes well, I will return in a month. Or less."

"And if it doesn't?" He leaned against her, arms hugging around her hips. His guts were twisting, like two icebergs grinding each other to snow.

"I don't know." She hugged his head to her, craddling his smooth cheek against her abs. "Maybe the Professor and Scott will mount a rescue mission. In which case I want you listen to Magnus if he's your team leader." Unofficially, Magnus was part of X-Factor. Just as unofficially, their teammates looked to her and Alex in training, even through X-Factor had no designated leader. She was afraid they'd butt heads if operational control was given to the older warrior. "And when you hit the ground with the rest, I want to hear you all screaming."

He smiled. She'd talked about the value of noise in battle a couple of times. "Like demons, or the wind."

"Don't worry, suga." Both of them jumped at Rogue's voice. "She won't screw this up- she's working fah meh an' Ah won't let her."

Laura glared as her roommates dropped duffles on the floor. "I don't need your help. Stay here, where it's safe."

"Can't. Logan like asked us to go." Kitty pulled her dresser open, starting to pack. "You, young lady, are stuck with us and the guys."

"What!"

"Ah don't like ya doing this any more 'an Logan does, but Ah know why yer are going to do it. I've been in yer head. So Ah'm yer team leader."

"What!"

**-Author's notes:**

Team A is Logan with Kitty and Remy; Rogue is in charge of Team B and overall second in command to Logan, with Kurt and Laura under her.

Property will be destroyed in large amounts. Asses will be kicked. Names might be taken. Fireballs will be seen from space. Charles knows what "gloves off" means with his tribe. Particularly what it can mean with this team, this family, this world's House of Wolverine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Weapon neXt**  
IronRaven, with editing/betareading by Baby Beaver

Every covert mission has certain common problems, be it a covert food drop for sieged in political dissidents, intelligence gathering, or anything in between.

It wasn't like other missions.

Before, if there was a mission, everyone knew or no one knew. This was too big, too much equipment was being pulled out of storage, too many people were involved, but no one was saying anything.

Sam had seen boxes being taken from a room whose door was always locked, marked the same way explosives going to the mines back home had been. There had been a lot of them.

Bobby and Hank had been run through the specifics of the network, more so than if Kitty was just going to be gone for a few days. She'd even given them her root admin passwords. The ones she told Bobby that she wouldn't give him over her dead body.

Kurt had ransacked the infirmary. He'd even packed body bags. Syrin had recognized them, and it filled her with dread.

Rogue had taken advantage of Forge being on campus over the summer to have a lot of equipment checked over, including six of the ten heads-up visors he'd made for them. Then she sealed it up in cases, and carried them into the hangar.

Everyone knew something was happening. The word from the Professor was that they were not to speculate, they would all be told in due time. That was the last straw- they weren't speculating. If you asked them, the students were 'analyzing unusual events and developing possible courses of action', as Roberto would later phrase it.

_-neXt-_

"Do you have everything you think you might need?"

"Yeah. Charles, I don't know if I'll be able thank you." He'd already said goodbye to Ororo. He'd told her enough. She understood what he was doing, and why he was doing it. She had told him to come home safe, and kissed him. First time she'd done that in front of students.

"Thank me by bringing my X-Men home." Charles Xavier's fingers clenched on the arms of his wheel chair. "Do what you what you need to to protect your daughter. Get going- I sense Kurt is getting anxious."

"He ain't the only one." Logan sniffed. "Flea is listening."

Logan stepped through the archway without saying more. With a sigh, the Professor turned his chair about, the squeak of rubber on steel buried under the sound of the blast door closing. The shield was designed to survive a catastrophic crash of one of the aircraft, one where the main fuel supply burned; it was as thick as the walls of the Danger Room. The clank of the relay to charge the electromagnetic catapult could be heard through the floor as Charles came to the intersection.

"Hello Timothy." His friends called him Tim, or Flea. Short and slim, he kept his blond hair cut military short, his blue-grey eyes huge behind his glasses. He was a teleport like Kurt but he seemed to use a different dimension; there was no smoke or smell. "What brings you down here? I thought I told everyone to stay out of Mr. Logan's way."

Tim shrugged as the lower levels vibrated with the scream of _Blackbird_ taking off. "You seemed like shi- something was bothering you, Professor. You tell us to talk to you, maybe you should talk to one of us?" He blinked owlishly behind the lenses. "Who told us that sometimes you have to do the right thing, because it is the right damn thing, even if you've been told not to?"

Charles chuckled- he knew exactly who that was, and he was being hoisted on his own pitard. "I hope I never have to tell you about this. Now, let's go upstairs. I think Mr McCoy was saying something about a game of basketball this evening. Powers allowed, and I think I'll be there."

A slight smile hid the mental note that Charles was sending to the simian-esque instructor. Sometimes the biggest challenge with their charges wasn't so much teaching them, they had almost reached they point where could do that themselves if they had to, but keeping them pointed in the right direction.

At times, Charles wondered if he was in control of the thing he'd created. Sometimes he feared that maybe his creation, his Institute, had become something that was too big to be guided.

_-neXt-_

"Autopilot engaged."

"Confirm, autopilot has the aircraft." Kurt leaned back in the right hand seat. He was still trying to digest the news. An evil Laura, and a clone of Sabertooth. "ETA Keflavik, six hours."

They had all the radar transponders on and had registered their flight path. As far as the world was concerned, on radar and in the computers, they were a prototype aircraft enroute to Europe, about the size of medium business jet. They could have been there much faster, but Logan wanted a low profile and time to plan. Logan wanted to refuel in Iceland, and Laura thought there might be someone there who had worked with Hydra in the past.

"All right, you've all looked at the material. You all know the enemy. I want you all to remember one thing- the Professor's only two rules on this one were to do this quiet, and bring everyone home."

"Those are our only rules of engagement?" Rogue looked concerned. They usually had more rules than that.

"Everyone, it is going to be me." Laura's voice was hard. "A very broken me. You've all seen what that means. She isn't going to hold back, you saw what it takes to stop me. But this one won't be asleep- she'll be wide awake and heavily armed. If she wants to kill you, you need to kill her first. Best bet is to get her down, then cut off my head. Her head." Laura was having a hard time with the idea of there being another version of her. "If you hesitate, she will kill any one of you- she's trained to hit and be gone, not to hang around, not to take trophies unless they are needed. And she isn't afraid of being hurt."

"Logan, mah biggest concern is they've had almost three days to run." Rogue waved the thick stack of passport records that Fury had contributed.

"Yes, they have. And as of three this morning, the credit cards they used to buy tickets haven't been touched. We can assume they have others."

"So they could literally be anywhere by now?" Kitty shook her head. "Its like a needle in a haystack."

"Pretty much. If you have a better idea, tell me- last place we knew for sure they were before New York was Moscow. Too much hassle getting in and out of there, they probably started there or near bye. Huh, that's odd" There was a blink on the console, a motion detector. "I think we just had something shift in the gear."

"Ah'll check it; need ta stretch anyway." Rogue pushed herself from her seat, and walked aft.

"Logan, I have a technical issue- I don't have a passport." Laura frowned. She'd never needed on before, HYDRA had provided one or she'd been crossing illegally. She'd been too mad at Alex to think straight. Being afraid of him getting hurt had already endangered the mission, made her make mistakes. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of it."

Remy laughed, reaching into his coat. "Here, petite." He was holding out a slightly worn passport, the kind a young girl who'd left the country two or three times might have. "You dropped this in the hanger."

She turned it over in her hands, staring at the back. Stamps for Japan last winter, and France the year before that. They looked good. The dates were timed for Bayville High's vacations. There was a stain, it smelled like diet cola. She studied the photo, her nose pressing the paper- it was a copy of the one on her school ID. The paper even smelled right. The birthday was the day she'd come to the Institute the first time, that night she'd meant to kill Logan, and discovered she didn't have to. In the name of Laura Logan. The passport was Canadian. The immunization record and green card matched. "But.. how?"

Remy smiled. He'd asked the Professor if anyone needed personal documents that couldn't be traced, then started looking for a papers artist who was reliable. That had been the hard trick. Once he'd the needed information, the man had produced the needed forms in a few hours.

_-neXt-_

Rogue surveyed the tiny cargo bay. She'd only seen it this full for a few missions. Parachutes, scuba gear, camping equipment, demolitions charges, night vision goggles, inflatable boats, Kitty's computers and electronics , a foot locker of medical supplies and Kurt's run bag- they'd planned on pretty much running into anything between now and the time they were home. Everything was strapped down, nice and tight except for some of their individual bags. Two were sitting on top of the others, which were strapped down.

There were two more here than she'd remembered. She picked up one. This one wasn't too heavy. She let it drop on the other one. The other one jumped and shouted. She recognized the voice. "ALEX SUMMAHS YAH DAMN FOOL IDIOT!"

"Hi Rogue. Uhmmm... This bag doesn't have inside zippers. Can you let me out?"

_-neXt-_

"Shut it." Logan's voice was a growl, low and lethal. "You weren't invited." Alex's eyes were wide. He hadn't said a thing other than a few protests at being bumped as he was dragged back to the cabin in the bag. Logan was still crouched next to the jumbo duffel that Havok had curled up in. "How did you get here?"

"Tim. He got me and my stuff on board."

"So The Flea wasn't just eavesdropping. When we get home, you are the only person who's gonna envy him, hotshot." Logan's glare was still pinning the kid down.

Alex looked around. Everyone was looking at him, except one. Laura was pissed, even worse than Logan, she wouldn't even look at him. But he couldn't let her run off to face this alone. He'd been thinking over a tactical reason, and he had one: none of them were long range fighters. He could hit a trash can at three hundred yards on a good day and make people want to keep their heads down at a half mile. Sure, he wasn't as good as Scott, but Scott had more experience and could only throw one beam at a time. Alex might might only be able put out two-thirds the energy at his most, but he could do that with each hand at the same time. Alex wasn't going to try something emotional like saying that he was following along because he'd rather die than have Laura never come back and not know why.

"Fine, you're with us to Iceland. If you can't convince me to not leave you there, you can stay at least as far as the next stop."

"Where are-"

"Shut up. Don't move, don't even blink." Logan moved up to the pilot's seats, opening his chart bag. He pulled out an envelope, flipping it Alex. "Had a feeling you'd do something stupid and heroic, and I wasn't the only one. Read."

Alex sat up slowly, opening the package. There were a couple of things in it, most of them down at the bottom. There was a piece of paper with hand writing on it at the top. He pulled that out first.

_Alex-_

_I don't know what is going on. But whatever it is has everyone wound up, and it looks like it involves Laura. If you are reading this on a Blackbird, I'm not happy with you bro'. Honestly, I'm pissed. But I also know that I was the same age you are when I walked into a telekinetic storm trying to save Jean's life. I don't know if you and Laura are supposed to be together, but you are in love with her. So if Logan will have you on his team, you have my permission. If he doesn't, he also has my permission to send you home on the first flight he finds, even if it means you get stuffed in a box and sent FedEx._

_If you are going to do this, remember your training. Keep your head on straight, and don't do anything stupid. I'm not going to be there to bail your butt out this time. Obey Logan like you would the would the Proff. And Rogue. And Kurt. And Kitty. Even Gambit. In fact, just shut up and do what anyone tells you to. Don't screw this up, and don't embarrass us. And don't die. _

_If anyone thinks Mexico didn't do it, you're an X-man now. Not a student, not any more. These quiet field trips with Logan, you get to grow up real fast. _

_And next time remember that if you are going to be an international man of mystery, you need your passport. And cash- it isn't a lot, but it was what me, Jean and some others could scrape up in a hurry. Pay us back if you survive. _

_Be careful, little brother. I will not lose you again._

_And show this to Logan. He's probably already guessed, but I trust him with Jean's life, I can trust him with yours. _

_-Scott_

Slowly, Alex stood up, walking to a few steps behind the pilots' seats. "Mr Logan?"

"Just Logan, Slim, just Logan." Wolverine had the multifunction display between the two flight stations switched to checking flight schedules. Kitty was right, it was easy to assume that their prey had started in Russia- for Westerners, Moscow was a destination, not a place you passed through. But if they'd come from certain parts of Asia...

"Ah... Logan, Scott said I should show you this."

Logan grunted, taking the paper from the young man, not bothering to open it before handing him a copy of the material they'd gotten from Fury.

It had the picture of the other X-23 going into the guards at the very top. Alex looked at it, eyes wide as he realized what he was seeing. He glanced at Laura, who was pointedly studying something in an identical packet. He looked back down at the date stamp on the image. He only needed a couple seconds to realize the implication. "Oh crap."

-**Author's notes:  
**OK... Alex, you are a twit. I hope you packed wool socks and body armour.


	4. Chapter 4

**Weapon neXt**  
IronRaven, with editing/betareading by Baby Beaver

WARNING: Violence and naughty words

There comes in a time, in the course of human events...

_-neXt-_

The customs officer lowered the passport he was looking at. "Purpose of visit, Mr Logan?"

"Crew rest, and it's just Logan."

The officer raised his eyebrow. It wasn't the normal, meaningless answer. "Business, then. Just for a few days?"

"At the most." Logan opened the small satchel he was carrying. Change of clothes. Toiletry kit that met regulations anywhere in the world, with some personal meds. Laptop. Nothing out of the ordinary for a pilot. "Nothing to declare, no fruits or vegetables."

"So I see. Thank you." The officer liked professional travelers who didn't try to bring in anything on the forbidden list, it made his job much easier. _Clang!_ The stamp came down on Logan's passport. "Velkominn til Íslands."

They processed through, one by one. They each carried a part of Kurt's medical kit as personal medical items. Kitty explained some of her computer equipment as she was their telemetry specialist. Remy's staff was hidden as parts of a camera tripod, while Rogue carried the camera. There had been a tight moment on Alex's passport, but Remy's special charm worked in Iceland, too.

Even at almost eleven pm local time, they were able to find several rental car kiosks open, including most of the American chains. They quickly procured a van, and armed with recommendations for hotels from a helpful clerk, they were quickly on their way towards Reykjavik, about 30 miles away.

Despite the lateness of the hour, they found one that still had a suite. The clerk had offered them the bridal suite, free upgrade. He might have been joking. Logan looked over his shoulder at the others, then at the clerk. Logan wasn't joking- they took a business suite. They changed into dark clothing and Kurt bamfed them to the van. They went towards the old harbour.

_-neXt-_

"Laura, you sure dis is da address?" Remy looked out the window as they drove past, not slowing. "Has been a few years."

From where she crouched between Logan and Rogue, Laura raised her eyebrow- she had been made for espionage, sabotage and assassination. "Eidactic memory."

"They do all look the same." Kitty sounded a little dubious. They'd done training sessions like this, mostly hostage rescues and to sabotage super weapons. They'd had a lot of those since the others had gone to Kansas, using Magus' encyclopedic knowledge of how physics could be corrupted.

"That is the warehouse where I met the man called Skoldson. Five-foot-eleven, medium build, light brown hair in a conservative businessman's style, blue eyes with contacts, right handed, no wedding ring or signs one had been removed. Average suit, nylon, blue, English made but not tailored, with a white cotton shirt, German cut, no tie. Italian shoes. He had been in the presence of a brown, long furred dog that was familiar to him, but there was the scent of two dogs on him. Rolex, steel, brown face, self winding on the right wrist, but he was right handed based on the callouses- body language suggested left eye dominance. He was too comfortable for it to be a neutral meeting place- he owned it or spent a lot of time there, it was his space. He threw away a water bottle without looking for the basket, and knew which drawers a functional pen would be in. It is the only HYDRA cell that I know of that I can not confirm was destroyed."

Remy laughed, a little nervous. "Remy is convinced, petite."

Logan found a parking place about a hundred yards away in the lot of a cheap apartment building, lacking cameras or a fence. "OK. Gambit, you've got point. Kitty I want you right behind him. Me, Elf, Stripes. Alex, head up, eyes open- I want you looking for surveillance. Laura, tail guard and make sure Slim here doesn't trip over his shoe laces."

Alex looked down at his boots to be sure. They were tied. Laura rolled her eyes as a few others chuckled.

They had their comms, but they'd only use them in an emergency. Rogue, Kitty and Alex were wearing the heads up visors, Laura had her old night vision goggles on her forehead. Remy was a wraith, silent to the point that Kitty phased herself out so that she wouldn't make any noise. Kurt moved smoothly, his gait almost slow looking but he made sure there was nothing under foot before moving his weight to his long, strong toes and swinging his other foot forward. Rogue did her best to match that, while Logan and Laura moved with the practiced ease of hunters despite their heavy boots, nostrils flared, eyes open.

The smells of diesel fuel, the tide and dead fish chased eachother down the streets and the alleys, where they mixed with cheap restaurant leavings and coffee grounds. In the distance, they could hear the noise of a bar, but it was closer to the water. Despite the coolness, it reminded Alex of parts of home, the working parts of the water. He heard the grit under his shoes, the only thing louder was his heartbeat- he was pretty sure they could hear him a mile away.

But it wasn't as loud as the sound of hinge rusted almost solid squealing open. He froze for a second, just a second, but a lot can happen in a second.

"GUN!" Laura grabbed Alex by his jacket, tripping him. She pushed him down and threw herself on top of him. She grunted as she felt rounds impact her armour- they were hotter than what the vest was made for, but she wasn't too worried. The first thickness of armour and her body slowed the bullets enough to keep them from leaving her. She could taste the blood on her breath as her body closed the injuries. The slugs would work themselves out within a day. They would itch maddeningly- she'd probably cut them out before it got too bad.

At Laura's shout, Rogue grabbed for Kurt, and Logan for both of them. Kitty's hand found Remy's arm, and took them both out of this plane for a moment.

"Stay!" Laura pushed him down, hard, and jumped off him. Alex didn't know what had happened completely. He'd seen weapons, but he didn't know Laura had been hit.

Shooters, fourteen, armed with suppressed weapons of various makes. She made a spinning kick, splitting one from the right shoulder to the left hip. She grabbed the weapon of another, pulling hard, but it's holder didn't want to let go- that was fine, she jabbed the butt into his throat with a soft, wet crack. Then a second time, completely crushing his throat, but he let go. Muscle memory guided her thumb to the fire selector, setting it to single shot. Holding it in her left hand, she snapped off two shots like it was an over sized pistol, the stock against her forearm.

Eleven..

This is where the long hours of training paid off. The hours of sweating, grunting, hurting, the sprains and cuts and bruises. They knew each other's moves, their strengths and weaknesses.

Kurt bamfed and grabbed two out of the fight. They suddenly found themselves over the harbor. two hundred yards above the harbour. Kurt was gone before they were really aware of the gravity of their situation.

Nine.

Logan turned, seeing a weapon pointed at Kitty. His claws severed the receiver of the compact Spanish submachinegun. And the hand holding it, gone at the wrist. Follow through took it the blades into the attacker's thigh, through the femur. There was a shriek, arterial blood spraying a bright crimson. A hammer fist to the side of the head with a pound of adamantium in it silenced the screams quickly.

Eight.

Four glowing cards slapped the two closest green clad attackers, returning to normal reality a fraction of a second after they left Remy's hand. They detonated on contact, but Remy wasn't even watching. He was already jumping and reaching for the fire escape above them, then pulled Kitty up. His arm swung, and she let go.

Six.

An elbow locked at Rogue's twist, then bent backwards over her knee. He let go of the gun, but his left hand was reaching for a knife. She let him fall, kicked him in the face, nose and cheekbones breaking.

Five.

Kitty was slipping in and out of being. She stepped through one of the gunmen, becoming solid behind him, and throwing him while phasing out. It hadn't been planned like that, she didn't want to be solid any longer than she had to be. She let go of him as Kurt bamfed next to her, ready to jump them both in to attack or retreat.

Four.

Laura fired one round into the throat of one at less than an inch, then the weapon jammed. Her right hand slashed, opening the side of his head.

Three.

Rogue grabbed one in both hands from behind another. He grunted, trying pull free. A heavy brogue slipped from under his mask. "Nay, fae witch!," placing his gun under his chin. Rogue barely had time to let go before they HYDRA foot soldier deleted himself.

Two.

As he fell, his hand clutched tightly, clenching. The shuffs became louder as the continuous firing gutted the cheap suppressor. Kitty grabbed Logan's shoulder, taking all three of them out of phase as the first round passed through where Logan wasn't. Kurt had them out of the way before the next several rounds passed through. Logan could have handled being shot if he hadn't been phased and ported clear, but he wouldn't have liked it. The HYDRA agent that had been behind him didn't like it very much either, and he couldn't take being shot.

One.

Remy's staff connected, the hollow titanium shaft ringing softly as it found the skull of the last one standing. The other end swung around, connecting with the chin on the reverse. A third strike, a spear thrust, landed over the heart, stunning it.

Clear.

The one Rogue had kicked was getting up again. A pair of energy beams slammed him into a wall. Through a wall.

Forty-seven seconds. If there had been any questions before, the training had paid off.

Logan checked his team quickly- few scrapes, a couple tiny cuts. Rogue had a lock of hair that was quite a bit shorter than those around it. Laura was covered in blood, but she was up and moving; she checked the magazine of a carbine whose model he didn't recognize, then worked the action with practiced easy.

Kitty was physically ok, but she was staring at the guy she'd left in the pavement. One arm and the head were still inside the street, along with the weapon. The other hand, the fingers were bloody and torn, the knees no better as he tried to pull himself free.

"Kurt," Nightcrawler looked up at Wolverine, his face showing uncertainty as his hands hovered hopelessly over his girlfriend's shoulders, "med check on us, then them. Alex, secure them and keep a look out. Rogue, take Remy and Laura and check the building after Kurt looks at you."

Logan was looking at rooftops and listening for sirens, helicopter blades as the others told Kurt they were fine.

_-neXt-_

The goggles were an old and familiar tool, the left eye showing Laura a green world that magnified the available light, the right showing a thermal image in red, the two images mixing in her mind. She had the compact German carbine she'd taken from the HYDRA agent tucked in tight to her left shoulder- she was right handed, she preferred her claws, but the gun had range and even if she hadn't shot in over a year, she had been as good with her off hand at these kinds of ranges.

She didn't wait for her teammates as she charged the stairs, her right hand low in front of her looking for tripwires. Her feet thudded heavily on the well worn wood, not slowing she approached the door. The window was made of tempered glass without reinforcing wires. Two rounds broke the surface tension of the glass, then she went through the small opening, clearing it.

The office was empty. Not just of humans, but empty. No desk. No filing cabinets. There was a gap in the wall where a print of an impressionistic tree had hung to hide a wall safe.

There was only one thing, small, glittering on the floor. It was in the exact center of the floor, it had been left there intentionally. Laura slid her goggles up, then lifted it with her claw. She snarled at the sculpted brass medallion in the shape of the HYDRA symbol, tears of rage on her cheeks. "No... I destroyed you. You can't come back. You can't have me! _You can't have them!_"

-_neXt-_

There was nothing out there; Logan was still watching as tried to put his hand on her shoulder, to comfort her, only to find out why Kurt's hand hadn't been on her. Logan felt his fingers sink into her, like she was made of warm Jello. He could feel her body throb around his hand- she wasn't in phase with the normal world, nor completely out of it. He pulled his hand back, afraid he could hurt her. He'd never seen her like that, he didn't think any of them had. "Kitty, you are the only one who can get him out of there."

She was fixated on what even Logan would concede was one of the more macabre things in his memory. The HYDRA assassin struggled for several moments more- the body had almost succeeded in pulling it's own head off, deep lacerations on the neck from the edge of the tarmac. Then he stopped and the flailing arm went limp, but he was still on his knees

"Is he.. did I?" Kitty was breathing hard. She hadn't meant to do _that. _

"Yeah Kitty, he's dead." Logan had seen enough bodies to know for sure. Kitty's mouth opened, trying to form words for a moment before she was noisily sick. He'd seen young soldiers after their first battle before, even if he didn't know their names or even what battles those had been.

"Oh, Mr. Logan, I'm so sorry." Kitty looked down at his boots.

"It was your first time. At least you're solid now, Halfpint." And he was surprised. All the fights, and no one had ever been permanently hurt or killed anyone. Statistically it should have happened a long time ago, they weren't using foam balls out here. That was something he'd been so careful about- as her father, Charles had said that Logan could take Laura off any team sent on a mission, so he'd oked her for one mission in the past year and it was a simple bug planting with himself, Ororo and Kitty at the Friends of Humanity offices in Brooklyn and Albany.

"Logan, there is very little that I can do for them. The ones that are alive vont' die anytime soon." Kurt wrapped his arm around his girlfriend as he reported to their mentor.

After a few moments, the other three poured out of the building. Laura looked like she'd taken a swallow off a water bottle, only to discover it was filled with strong vinegar. The other two had come out behind her.

Logan knew Rogue's body language- she was disturbed by something. "There was nothing there, no files, no computers, no one. They are storing metal stock, boat parts and mechanical fluids, like Laura remembered, but someone cleaned out the office completely. They took anything bigger than a light switch."

"But they left this." Laura held up the medallion. "We were supposed to find it. It was a trap."

"Crap." A fast check showed that they were all mobile. "Laura, ditch the damn gun- it's got your prints all over it. Remy, can you get rid of it?" Logan slung the most talkative looking of the surviving HYDRA member across his shoulders. He was also the oldest looking one- the two highest ranking ones had both tasted claws "We need to get out of here. Kurt, get the van."

With a glower, Laura cleared the weapon, handing it and the magazine to Gambit. He charged them both as he jogged to the door, tossing them both in, the magazine up to the office, the carbine among the oil drums.

Remy jumped in through the side door of the van, Kurt putting it back in motion before the door had even slammed shut. As they left, the charged metal finally left Remy's control. In moments, it was on fire.

_-neXt-_

Laura stepped on the balcony, her hair wet. She closed her eyes, obviously biting back anger, when she realized Alex was out there already.

"Logan told me to go out here and watch." Havok didn't bother to to turn around. He could recognize Laura's foot step in her boots or bare feet, on wood, concrete or carpet. It wasn't any special power, it was because he'd spent six months learning her every movement. He loved her, that was the whole reason he was doing this. Scott and Jean had both pointed out to him that he was only 16. He'd asked them when they realized they'd loved each other, and then how long it had taken them admit to each other- maybe they would have been happier if they'd not wasted time. He clenched his hands on the railing, but his voice was soft and gentle. "Thank you: I saw your jacket."

"That is why I wanted you to stay home." She stood next to him, but didn't look at him. "You could have been killed."

"Yep. And if I had, then what?" He looked over at her- she hadn't brushed her hair yet, the brush was in the backpocket of her utilities. "Rogue would have probably been stabbed in the back. You are mad at more than just me."

She stiffened. "I didn't know you were a telepath."

"Your jaw is clenched and you are walking stiff legged so you can't let out your foot claws. Logan?" He reached down, taking the brush from her pocket.

"He killed, to." She pulled her head away from the brush. "It isn't fair, we were protecting all of you, there were too many to slow down." She looked at him over her shoulder.

"I know. I dont know if I killed that guy, I"m not going to ask. I don't want to know." He tried again, the third time she let him start to brush her hair. "Don't fuss- we both know if it dries like this, it get knots." He ran the bristles with short strokes starting at the tip, holding her mane over his arm as he gradually lengthened the strokes. "Logan doesn't like that you killed those guys. But was he really mad at you, or at the situation? Don't think about what he said, think about how he said it- you both have the same problem. You get mad a situation, and get nasty with someone who was in it, even if it wasn't their fault." He tugged at one of the snarls in her hair. "He was mad that you had to kill. And mad that he walked right into that ambush. He's thinking he almost got five of us killed, and you possibly recaptured."

"But it isn't fair. I'm not going to be hurt by this- Kitty's the one who is in pain." She felt the plastic tips touch her scalp. "And I can brush my own hair."

"I'm your boyfriend- I can do this, particularly after you save my life." He slid her hair aside, kissing the nape of her neck lightly, before going back to brushing. "Kitty is scared, she just killed someone, and that has to be the most gruesome thing I've ever seen in person. She got to have a normal childhood, most kids don't think about it that much."

"Hmm... but so did you." She was relaxing, just a hair. But six of the nine people who'd be able to tell were with her. "Why do you seem so calm about it."

"I don't know if I killed him. Ignorance is bliss." Alex shrugged, making long, slow strokes from her hair line to the small of her back. "And Dad, my foster dad, was my Father's XO. That's why he and his wife adopted me. He left the Air Force a year later. Fighter pilots don't kill eachother in dogfights, they shoot down other aircraft. So long as it is the uniform I'm fighting, or some other symbol, I might be ok."

"It's fine, you can stop." Part of her didn't want him to, she liked what he was doing. It made happy little tingles run up and down her arms and down her spine. But they were on watch. "You should have stayed in New York."

"Yeah, maybe. But who would brush your hair?"

_-neXt-_

"All right sunshine, wakie wakie." Logan broke an ammonia capsule under the man's nose. They'd bound him to the straight backed chair that had come with the suite. "What is your name?"

The man remained silent.

"Look Bub, I know you're part of one of the last HYDRA cells left." The man snorted. "So you speak English, good. "

"Fick dich."

"OK, I speak German to." With a loud snikt his claws extended. "But I'm pretty sure you speak pain in any langauge."

"Logan, no!" Rogue put herself between the two men. With her back turned to the prisoner, she winked- this was going according to plan. They were going to play a little bit of 'rabid cop-sweet cop'. "We can't use torture."

"Watch me." He made as to grab her by the arms and set her aside, but she'd refused to be moved. "Damnit Rogue, this scum tried to kill us!"

"No Logan- go outside." She pointed towards the open door, the only point of light behind the bright light pointed at his face. She waited while he stomped for the door, then slammed the door. He hadn't really left, it was all stage play. He was still hiding in the shadows, and Remy was behind their friend. If needed, Rogue would try to steal his memory, but they wanted to try the old fashioned way first.

They'd also put a number of anti-motion sickness patches on their subject- a little bit of scopalamine makes it hard to vomit. A lot of it, but not enough to kill you, makes a crude truth serum.

Squatting down, Rogue looked the man in the eyes from the side. "Yah can't say yah are innocent. You know that." The man shrugged. "What is yah name? Ah'm Rogue."

The man struggled with it. His training with HYDRA had included interrogation resistance, but... it was just his name, right? "Weber, Klaus Weber."

"Danke, Klaus. Can Ah get yah a drink, anything like that? Ah can't untie yah, don't ask- it is more for yah safety than mine."

"Da, sit on my lap." He leered.

Rogue shook her head. "Mah boyfriend is the jealous type, explosive kind of guy. They'd have to bury yah in a sponge."

She rested her hand on his knee. "So why did yah attack us?"

"Orders." He was feeling warm and fuzzy. They'd already seen what he was after. "You have a rogue agent, X-23-0 , as part of your team. We were to intercept and neutralize her. But... I watched her get hit, then get back up." He frowned in confusion.

"Body armour." Rogue softened her voice. "Ah have to tell you something that might be very hard for you. Most of yah team is dead or crippled. We want them to get the medical attention they need- who should be told."

He stiffened slightly. "I can not tell you that."

"But they were yah friends. They deserve better than being anonymous dead guys. Don't they have families."

"Not friends. We flew in three days ago, and were told to watch for..." Weber stiffened. "I have said too much, kill me now."

"Ah won't do that."

"Then send your teammate back in- he will what must be done."

" Ah won't do that, either." Rogue picked up a bottle of water from the base of the lamp. "Are yah sure you don't want some? As far as Ah'm concerned, if yah tell us who sent you, we'll leave yah here and let the cops know where yah are. I wouldn't tell them what you do- yah lost, but Ah'd let yah live."

She leaned forward. "But Ah was the only one who didn't want yah dead. If yah don't help me, Ah can't help yah. Just tell me who was the one who gave yah the orders."

He spat on the floor. "I'm dead either way. Your teammate will cut me up like sausage."

"Not if you tell me, then Ah can sneak yah out of here. Ah'll get yah to the hospital- feel that numbness in yah leg? The nerve was cut, your leg was broken in mid thigh." Rogue's face shown with concern. "HYDRA is destroyed, there are a few cells left but it is gone. Mah friends did most of the work. There is no one left to hurt yah, if we can take down the person who gave yah orders. It's been less than an hour, the nerve hasn't died yet, but the longer yah wait, the less chance it will recover. Yah'll spend the rest of yah life in a wheelchair, or on crutches. Is that what yah want."

Actually, they had strapped his leg with a nearly tourniquet tight band, cutting off blood flow. He could go a while longer before there was any chance of damage.

_-neXt-_

Kitty was curled up in Kurt's lap, trembling. He was curled up around her, and had blankets over him for warmth. She had been a little shocky physically, but mostly emotionally. She'd left Juggernaut in concrete once or twice, but never a normal person.

Other than her Oma, she'd never seen a dead body in person. Even in the riots immediately after A-day, she'd seen plenty of people hurt, but never a body. This one, she'd killed. She clung to Kurt's shirt and hiccuped softly, no more tears left in her. The worst part was that she could have saved him, but she'd frozen. The man had just tried to kill her and her friends, if she'd pulled him out he'd have tried to kill them again, but she'd let him die.

"Shhhh... Kitty, it vasn't your fault." Kurt had seen a few bodies; as part of his EMT training, he'd had to ride with an ambulance crew for a while. They'd mostly been decent people- he'd prayed for them. He'd even watched the dead come back to live on one occasion. He had also confessed with a great deal of guilt that he'd not prayed for those who's brought pain and suffering to others and had finally met someone even worse or luckier than they were. "You vere trying to protect us, the same as the rest of us. Shhh..."

They'd been in this ball for a while, since she'd gotten out of the shower. She'd wanted to bathe desperately, even through she hadn't had any blood on her. She'd also avoid touching Laura. _She'd_ looked like a wild thing, covered in blood, and hadn't minded that she had bits of other people _on her_, _in her hair_. She hadn't looked happy with what happened, but Logan looked even more so about it. Kitty was a little scared of her right now- twice she'd seen Laura rampaging, once in a nightmare and once while holding back. This time Laura hadn't done either, and she'd killed like half a dozen guys in just a few seconds. And her copy was what they were hunting?

She was ashamed of herself- Laura was her friend, and Kitty was afraid her reaction would hurt the younger girl.

But she also knew that Laura had pushed her into the shower first, despite the smell of the blood. Laura had buried X-23, she didn't want to do this. And she'd been forced to show the people she loved the most just what she was. When she talked about being a killer in the past, she'd usually phrase it like 'when I was a monster' or something similiar, but she'd wanted Kitty to feel clean first. Kitty had stopped a bad guy, and here she was shaking like a leaf on the wind.

Kurt had seen the bloody holes on the back of Laura's tshirt, she'd been shot and it had gone through her vest, and she had basically ignored it. Kurt had tried to ask Laura, but she'd cut him off. She told him it wasn't important as she and Logan had gone to a corner to have a conversation. Any other people, and the body language would have suggested shouting and screaming and things being thrown. From across the room, even Kurt hadn't hurt them- they were both lethally angry and in full control of the rage that wanted out. It was a little scary.

"Kurt... am I a bad person?" Kitty's voice was a croak.

"What? Nein, nein leibchen." He kissed her softly, holding her tightly.

_-neXt-_

"You want to know? Do you really not know already?" He started to laugh, a horrid combination of girlish giggle and evil cackle. "I'll tell you. Jah, I'll tell you!" The laughter took a hysterical edge, tears streaming down his cheeks as he shook his head. "Talk to.. to the fat man... Madripoor... the fat bastard in... Madrip-AAH!"

With a rapid jerk, Weber's head snapped to one side, then the other, a loud crunch-snap coming from his spine. In the chair, what had once been a muscular man slumped like a broken puppet. His head hung with his chin behind his shoulder, looking back at Remy.

Rogue jumped back with a yelp. "No way! No one could commit suicide like that! What was that!"

Remy prayed in Creole and called on the Loa for good measure, crossing himself. Other than a very lengthy confession (there had been a need for a pee break) after months of prodding by Kurt, he couldn't remember the last time he'd done that.

Logan's hands curled angrily, his voice a furious whisper. "It was a compulsion order, he was programmed to die before he could say too much. But he said enough."

**Author's notes:  
**I hate it when they go an die on you. It's not like you can leave 180 pounds of dead bad guy hanging around for the maid to clean up. Then she tells her boss, and he calls the cops, and your credit card gets all kinds of interesting flags on it, and your passports... *sighs* It is so very rude to kill yourself during interrogation.

Iceland is a lovely little country. 2-3 murders a year. Arsons, explosions, very rare. Drug dealers, organized crime, terrorism, nope. It's quiet, the dogs rarely bark, kids don't scream, it really is the peaceful kingdom. Err... ooops, sorry guys.

As someone observed, this is X-Force. Call in the X-men if it needs to be neat. The New Mutants if you need exuberance and raw talent. X-factor if you need something stomped by a lot of boots. X-Force... there is no X-Force; the Xavier Institute has no team with such a designation, and will not approve of assassinations, sabotage, espionage, or other illegal activities. Next question please!


	5. Chapter 5

**Weapon neXt**  
IronRaven, with editing/betareading by Baby Beaver

Low profile, the Professor says. Keep it quiet, he says. Damnit, he says.

_-neXt_

It was shortly before dawn when Kurt and Logan left briefly to arrange a temporary resting place for Herr Weber. With only a tiny bit of smoke, the HYDRA agent was deposited in a remote corner of the landfill northeast of the Reykjavik itself. Logan had insisted on taking care of the body himself until that last stage.

He was tired, but he didn't think he could sleep. He could feel pressure in his mind, like windows were being opened and closed on a windy day. He often felt like this after a fight, or during it. He could feel the bloodlust in his veins, and he was pretty sure that if he gave into it, the doors would open. As curious as he was about his missing memories, they... frightened him. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, ever, not Chuck, not Laura, not 'Ro. He feared he could get his past back by being a murderous beast again. It wouldn't cost him much- his honor, his dignity, his self respect, and that of his students, friends, daughter and lover. "Not worth it."

"Logan?" Kurt glanced over from the driver's seat.

"Hmmn. It's nothin', Kurt. Is that a grocery store? Don't think you kids have eaten since yesterday."

"Neither have you." Kurt glanced back over as he signaled to turn. Logan didn't sound quite like himself, or maybe Kurt was over tired. Kitty had fallen asleep in his arms, and had slept fitfully. He'd stood watch as she fought with a herself, stroking her hair until she'd calmed. Before she'd nodded off, Kitty told him that no matter what, she wanted to see this through. She'd been scared of Logan before; she was scared of Laura right now. But she meant it when she said they had to take care Logan and Laura, keep them safe and sane

_-neXt-_

"Shhh..."

Logan glanced around. Someone had thought to be put the do not disturb sign on the door, and had darkened the room. Alex waved from him from a spot on the couch. When Wolverine was closer, he could see Laura was asleep, her head in his lap. Alex was slowly, lightly stroking her spine.

"Vhe got food." Kurt's step was almost as light as a moth landing as he lifted the bags in his hands. They had also paused to scrub out the back of the van, not only where they had carried Weber, but also wear Laura and Logan had both left bloody smears. After riding ambulances, the smell of disinfectants no longer bothered Kurt that much, but they'd left Logan sneezing, his eyes watering from the strength of the fumes.

"Thanks Kurt. Logan, I sent everyone to bed." Alex closed his eyes for a moment. They'd been on the go for almost 24 hours at this point, without sleeping, or much to eat. He'd trained for years as a surfer, this wasn't how you keep going. He nodded to the room with the two beds. "Kitty is in there with Rogue and Remy."

"How did you get them to listen to you?" Logan's claws slid out, quickly slicing a loaf of bread so fresh it was still warm. Laura stiffened in her sleep a little at the sound, her hands opening as if to retract her own claws, then relaxed- it was over in an eyeblink.

They'd bought a couple of those, butter, jam, some cold cuts and cheese, fruits, juice and canned coffee. Logan was reaching for one of those when Alex grunted.

"Blackmail." He grinned evilly. "And you need to sleep to, Logan. Both of you."

Kurt made a sandwich, hiding his smile as best he could. He could think of one or two things that he'd rather that Alex not repeat in public that he'd mentioned, although Scott knew about them to.

"Really Slim? I don't remember putting you in charge- didn't your brother tell you to take orders?"

"Yep. But I slept in the bag, Rogue woke me up." He blushed. He tried to move his leg, but Laura mewed softly in her sleep, rolling over a little, her hand on his knee. "I can't fly the plane very well and I'd rather not crash because you two fell asleep."

Logan nodded. He wanted to be in the sky in a few hours. Before anyone thought about closing borders. If they had, they'd done everything they could to make sure there was no trail to them short of having stolen a van for last night. The kid had a point.

Logan was only partially aware of Kurt joining his girlfriend and their roommates. He slapped together a pair of sandwiches out of butter, jam and some kind of cheese, bringing one over to Alex. He held it out with a grunt. "No need to wake her."

"Thanks."

Logan didn't bother with the chair, sitting on the floor. A year ago he'd have feared for Alex's life doing what he was doing. Six months ago, he'd have been a little annoyed. Now, he was- he yawned. Logan was tired. He just didn't want to sleep around them. He could keep himself awake for months on what was in the first aid kit on the _Blackbird. _

"Logan, sleep. If anything goes wrong, she'll be awake as soon as I move." Alex kept his tone neutral. He had held Laura when she had started to have a bad dream an hour ago, whispering to her to calm her.

Wolverine scowled. Then yawned. Havoc was staring at him when he closed his mouth. Neither one blinked for a few minutes. Eventually Logan's chin dropped, just a little, then he started to snore.

_-neXt-_

"Leaving so soon?" The customs officer glanced up from his computer. The young man had been in the country less than twenty four hours, during which time the worst criminal act in his nation's history had occurred. He wouldn't call them victims, the evidence suggested they were involved in something quite illegal, but this was something expected from a less civilized nation, like England or the US. He looked at the young man before him- quite unremarkable other than the accent

"Da boss man summons, so we gotta listen." Remy shrugged, trying not to blink- he'd stopped wearing the contacts years ago, after working with Magnus, being around Pyro with contacts just wasn't safe, and they'd been bothering his eyes. He'd noticed the much higher security at the airport. Last night was the number three story on the BBC. Kurt had already returned anything questionable to the _Blackbird_, including their bloody clothes. Kurt had washed them in the tub by hand, but the scent of blood was too strong. Laura's bag contained some of the clothes the others had brought- it would only be problem if someone was very observant.

Fortunately so long as the sizes and cuts are close, a harried customs checker won't think to look close. So long as everyone was cool and calm, it should work. He looked around, feigning the boredom of any frequent traveler. The trick was keeping everyone cool- Logan, Laura and especially Kitty all were wound tight. It was messier than anything he'd done after rescuing Jean-Luc and trying to make the Thieves and Assassins Guilds broker a new truce, but last night wasn't the first time he'd been in that kind of fight. If he ever went south of Baton Rogue, he would have both Guilds looking for him with murder in their eyes- both wanting him dead was better than what had been happening.

He looked back at the sound of the stamp in his passport. "Merci."

He made a point of not giving the dog sniffing everyone going out of custom's too much notice. He held his hand out in a casually friendly manner to the Shepard, but he really didn't look at the dog. Probably sniffing for blood or powder residue. He walked past the dog, waiting at a jag in the hallway for the others. Kitty made it fine, Kurt, Rogue. Alex was through. The real trick was coming up.

Logan was through, and he was waiting for Laura. She'd insisted on them going first. If anything went wrong, Kurt could get the others to _Blackbird_, get her off the ground, and scream for home fully stealthed and low enough they'd have to worry about hitting fishing boats. She and Logan could get out of here- she'd use her phone call for the Canadian Embassy, Logan for the American one- he had a passcode for SHEILD still. Or they could break out of jail, steal a plane or a boat- Logan wasn't having anything to do with that option. Her first plan was to just not show herself as having left, and hoping the fence. Any of them could do it- for an international airport, the security could be better. But if they'd landed anywhere with real customs the lack of an exit stamp might raise an eyebrow.

Alex held his breath, watching too closely. Rogue gently tapped his foot with her's.

Logan put his arm over her shoulder. That was getting hard, she was only an inch shorter than his five-foot-three-and-small change. To anyone, they looked like father and daughter. She was darker skinned, but they had the same square jaw and eyes that looked like they took in everything. His body language was concerned; hers stiff and annoyed as she shrugged of his arm. The dog showed interest in her, growling.

"Fyrirgefðu. Excuse me, miss?" The dog's handler was a older than most of the security, with greying hair. He looked like a viking, tall with shoulders wide enough that doorways were an annoyance to go through. The dog was looking right at her legs.

Laura stopped, looking at the dog with exasperation. "What?'

"I must ask you some questions, miss. And your.. father?"

"He's not my father."

Rogue was holding her breath now. Laura had scrubbed her boots with a toothbrush and paste under running water, but they were the only thing that she'd been wearing yesterday.

The guard nodded. He had two daughters, one a little older than this girl and one at university. He could tell the signs of a fight. "Miss, have you anything odd on you.?" She was wearing pants with a lot of pockets- he knew how kids accumulated stuff.

She rolled her eyes, pulling out a bag with a couple of sandwiches in it. "Lunch. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. This time." She stressed the last two words and glanced towards Logan.

"No, no, not at all." The guard knew he should pull her aside, but then he'd have to wait for the sole female guard on duty to come over and search this young woman. He should put the bags and her clothes through a neutron sniffer. With the bloodshed last night, the supervisor was having puppies, worried that there had been a falling out between smugglers or terrorists. But this was just a cranky girl, and her father. "Sorry about that. Have a nice flight, young lady. Can I have just a second, sir?"

Laura walked past the others, her body language stiff, telling the world she was embarrassed and very put upon, She'd seen it often enough at school- it was a great laboratory to study the body language and behaviors of typical teenagers in an environment that was both natural to them and that they saw as hostile.

The guard gave Logan a comradely smile. "They do grow out of it. Eventually."

"Thanks. It's going to be a long flight."

The rest waited for Logan to join them before following. Laura was waiting for them just around the corner. They wound past the normal passenger terminal, towards the doors to the outside normally used by service personnel and the flight crews of small cargo aircraft used only on the island. They hadn't gone through the customs office for the international cargo flights- there was no rule against walking from the passenger terminal to the cargo terminal but it was odd.

As soon as they were out of sight of cameras, Kurt bamf'ed them to_ Blackbird_.

_-neXt-_

"Ah... Pilot has the aircraft." Rogue had gotten a good two hours more sleep after leaving Iceland; she was swapping seats with her brother so Kurt could rest. She had already checked the status of all the system's from the flight engineer's panel, but she still made sure what she'd seen there matched what she was seeing up front. She flinched as Logan stood up, his joints clicking and popping. It would be a while before that sound didn't freak her out a little, after what she'd seen earlier that day.

Of course, they didn't need to have two people at the controls of this jet, or even one. They all could have taken naps, but something had Logan spooked. It wasn't just the fighting and the killing. _Oh gawd, that was close._ There was something else that was bothering him, and something about the way the Scotsman had killed himself. Like he knew she would be able to steal his memories. That wasn't general knowledge. She knew that various people knew what she could do- SHEILD, Mystique, Sabertooth, maybe even the Friends. From what Logan had said, HYDRA considered SHEILD their mortal enemy. That was probably how they knew.

She couldn't imagine a traitor in their midst. She knew it wasn't anyone on this team. No, no way. But who... None of the students had any reason to betray them. Former students... that was Lance if you used a pretty broad definition, but SHEILD would shoot him if he was a traitor. No one else wasn't at the Institute, other than Evan. Spyke had let the earth swallow him and the Morlocks up, there was the occasional bit of venom from the Bugle about him, but... _No... not him..._

"You ok, cheri?"

Rogue shook her head. NO, Evan would never betray them. Not like that. "Nothing, Remy. Don't worry none."

He reached across the center console, putting his hand on her forearm. "I'm not, we've only lost a few thousand feet. Plenty ah sky 'fore I'm worried. Levah her off, relax."

Rogue blushed as she looked at the altimeter. She had them in a slow dive. "Sorry sugah. Just mah mind playin' tricks on me."

After a few moments, she tilted her head back. "Logan- do yah know if we can even get av-gas in Madripoor."

He swore. He didn't know. They had almost no information.

_-neXt-_

Alex woke up as they made the jag around North Korea that everyone made since the JAL 007 incident. He was coming back from the head when Laura grabbed his shoulders in the passage way between the cockpit and _Blackbird's_ hold. "Sit. Take off your shirt." Alex blinked at her command, but obeyed. He unbuttoned the garish, floral patterned shirt.

The X-men had body armour, as did the New Mutants. Logan, Scott and the Professor had grudgingly agreed that Laura and Alex should have armour- if any members of X-Factor were likely to be going into harms way, it would be these two, they'd been in the field. Laura had protested at first, but she'd accepted it for two reasons- if the one who couldn't die wore armour, then it made it more likely the other members of her team would choose to wear it, and it meant that she could be a shield to protect her friends. Her flesh would slow a bullet, not stop it. If she hadn't been wearing hers, the projectiles she'd cut from her body would have probably been moving fast enough to risk Alex's life.

She shook her head at what she saw. "I taught you better than this." He'd fought at Asteroid M and on A-day. But he still hadn't learned to dress himself- there was a gap in the side big enough for her finger to get through. There was the rip of velcro, and Laura pulled the arachnoweave and nanotube vest over his head. "Take off that tshirt, it's loose."

"But it's comfortable loose."

"Doesn't do you any good to be comfortable if it won't protect you. This isn't a game, Alex, this is the real thing. HYDRA won't hesitate to use real weapons, or did you miss that?" There was pain in her eyes. "Take that thing off, give it to me." She dropped his armour in his lap, before walking back into the baggage hold. She came back after a few minutes. "I can wear your tshirts for pajamas; my tshirts will fit you but be tight. That is what we want."

She tore the sleeves off this tshirt, tossed it to him. The cotton would be a wicking layer under the many layers of advanced materials, and protect him from friction blisters; the buckytubes woven into the armour would flash into low temperature plasma if hit with a energy weapon- better a first degree burn over your torso than a laser burn through it, but synthetics would melt into the skin if that happened. Cotton wouldn't. He grinned sheepishly as he pulled her tshirt over his head; the length barely come down to his hips. He realized that this had to be one of the longer tshirts she liked to sleep in. He could smell her on it, even if had been washed. Maybe it was in his head, maybe not.

It wasn't erotic. It wasn't even exciting. It was comforting. Laura was his angel in combat boots, avenging and guarding. The shirt would do for a substitute if they got separated.

"Arms up." When he obeyed, she flipped the armour over his head, then pulled it around him. She worked the straps several times until it was snug to him. It wouldn't shift as he moved, there wouldn't be gaps. She slipped a small, flat knife onto one of the straps, under his left arm. It was made of a strong polymer, with a glass-sharp monocrystalline edge- it could cut almost anything short of vibranium- or adamantium-alloys given enough time. "Leave this on the plane if we land someplace with security."

She pulled him to his feet, before yanking off his belt. She tossed him a new one. "Escape belt. Dollars, Euros, silver blanks half ounce, gold blanks eighth ounce, diamond impregnated wire saw. Feel the back." He touched it with his fingers, finding an odd spot in it. "Double ended handcuff key- keep that under a belt loop, less likely to be found. Put it on. If your ear was pierced, I'd try to find an earring worth something for you if we had time- more escape money if you need it."

"Yes, Laura." Alex felt a chill run up his spine. There had been times when she, Logan, Scott and Remy had been talking. He thought it had been about the bodygaurd class Laura wanted to run. This was different. This wasn't even like what they had on A-day, all he'd then was utilities and belt with a first aid kit and couple of odds and ends in it. This was CIA or SHIELD type gear, this was the kind of stuff James Bond wanted to have. He remembered the night of the Sadie Hawkins formal, his eagerness to be on one of the whispered "black ops". It had been less than 30 hours since they'd left home, leaving a trail of bodies. Any eagerness that might remain was going away quickly.

"Watch. 10 meter GPS, compass, twin count down, stopwatch, resets on the GPS so you don't need to worry about time zones, or switch to global time. Dive rated to 50m, and EMP hardened- you won't fry it." She held up her arm, popping her claws in her annoyance. She was wearing a nearly identical one- the difference was in the outer shell, so it wouldn't look someone had issued them all the same watch.

She glanced at his boots. They were good ones, broken in but strong with good tread, he had the parachute cord laces that she'd urged him to use. "Put your shirt on. If there is any shooting, stay close to Kurt or Kitty, they'll get you out of there." She pulled off her sweater. She was already wearing armour; this was her spare vest. They'd be able to salvage the front part for an armour to put in something, but the back part had to be retired, it could never be trusted again after being shot. She brushed his hair back, her voice soft for the first time since he'd been found in the cargo bay. "Make sure I'm tight?"

Alex swallowed. The tshirt that Laura wore was almost skin tight on her. It took him a moment to realize it wasn't cotton, but raw silk, thinner but stronger than cotton and it would take more heat before it burned. He felt her warmth through the fabric, trying not to have improper thoughts as he made sure his girlfriend was strapped tight. He had thought she was looking heavier while they were en route to Iceland, but he knew better than to say a thing. "Tight." He knew better than to ask if she had a key- she had a set of lock picks that could open anything. "Do you think there will be shooting?

"It's Madripoor. I'm not taking chances- we _did_ get shot at in Iceland." She'd never been, but she'd heard enough. One of the movies that was popular at the Institute had a line that sounded about right- 'never will you find a more retched hive of scum and villainy'.

**-Authors notes:**  
Yeah, the Prof is going to love it when he sees this on the news. _"Firefighters in the Icelandic capital were greeted by a grisly scene this morning... The two survivors have not yet regained consciousness... The Icelandic Ministry of Justice has few clues at this time... What appears to have been a fight between two groups armed with automatic weapons and swords... Two more bodies were recovered from the a marina, one of them impaled on fishing boat's radar mast, presumably thrown from an aircraft... No witnesses... Another body was found, with possible signs of torture... The Justice Minister refused to speculate if it was drug related, or possibly a dispute between terrorist groups... Assistance has been offered by Norwegian, British and American police agencies..."_

He's not going to be super happy. If he's shaving his head, he'll be able to stop by the time I'm done.

Oh, and I know the guy Kitty gave the half burial to should have died instantly. Along with everything for many miles around- you just made sets of matter-energy coexist at the same point in time-space. I don't remember the exact equation, but the quantum mechanics means that the universe just flushed you and any witnesses right out of existence. But Kitty has left stuff (wires, blankets, clothes, Juggernaught) in things and there was no Earth-shattering ka-boom. *shrugs* It's canon, and it is a really cool scene. So we add some handwavium to the alloy and... tada!


	6. Chapter 6

**Weapon neXt  
**by Ironraven, with editing/beta-reading by BabyBeaver

Sorry for the delay, everyone. Real world sucks.

After having made a fast getaway from the lovely, once peaceful island nation of Iceland, we find out heroes en route the dangerous freeport of Madripoor...

**_-neXt-_**

"Alright, change of plans." Logan flicked a concerned eye over Laura and Alex- they'd been in the airlock alone, and now he was wearing on of her shirts and she didn't have the sweater on she'd had on earlier. Something odd had happened, but it wouldn't affect the mission. He trusted them both that far.

"We are stopping in Bangkok, to take on fuel. We are only getting gas."

_-neXt_

It had taken a while to get a slot in the landing queue for one of the busiest airports in that part of the world. Then they had to sit on the ground for a while, until they could take on fuel at the cramped, cargo carriers' area at Bangkok's Don Mueang International.

Kitty knocked on the hatchway into the hold- she had noticed the shirts to, and didn't want to interrupt Alex and Laura.

"Ahh! Don't come in- we're decent!" Alex grinned as his girlfriend rolled her eyes. Laura had demanded to see what he'd packed. She had been concerned he's packed street clothes and a toothbrush and nothing more- instead, he even had a spare toothbrush. He'd taken a cue from what she and the other girls had been packing. He had two pairs of utilities, but without the top half of the training uniform they were just black combat fatigues, along with jeans and a pair of khakis. His blazer, two dress shirts and a tie. Tshirts, hawaiian shirts, a couple sweaters. A climbing harness and a full rack of metal. Gloves for every purpose, winter boots and jacket, regular boots. His dive gear, both long distance and walking fins, and his long and short wetsuits. Sleeping bag, and his climber's pack. In her opinion, the only thing he'd missed was the passport that his brother (or maybe future sister in law) remembered for him.

Kitty smiled despite herself. Alex jumping into protect his girlfriend who didn't need to be protected from mad dogs and bad men, while she tried to keep him safe- that was normal. "Logan says everyone off while we get fuel. Laura, can we talk?"

"Yes, of course." She unfolded from her crouch, kissing the top of Alex's head as he zipped closed his bag. "You did good for your first time."

The hatch was open, the boarding ramp extended. Laura followed her friend down to the bottom, and to the nose gear. She frowned- she didn't think that there was anything wrong with her and Kitty. "Kitty?"

"Does it get easier, Laura? Killing?"

Oh. "Only if you let it. And I don't want it to be for you." Even now, after swearing she wouldn't kill, after burying X-23 in the desert, she was only disappointed in herself. She wasn't mad, or angry, she didn't feel betrayed. Maybe it was because the first thing they did was try to kill Alex and her friends.

"Tell me about your first time, how did you do afterwards."

"I vomited, and cried. They shocked me, and killed me, as punishment for being weak." Laura didn't blink or look away from the memory of the pain. Kitty took a ragged breath. "They broke me until I didn't feel it any more. I... I wish I could have still cried for the innocents. But the ones yesterday, they weren't innocent. They would have killed you, or captured you and tortured you for information or brainwashed you in to becoming an agent."

She reached up, stroking her friend's back. Kitty went rigid as Laura hugged her. Laura's voice was soft and low. "You can cry for your enemies. I can't- it makes you the stronger one. More human than me."

_-neXt_

They were still in Thai airspace when the call went out- all approaches to Don Mueang were being aborted immediately. Someone had just driven a fuel truck through the fence. Not only was it an airport, it was an air force base. The last few flights had left in an almost military scramble, they were reporting that security teams were shooting at the truck, but it had seemed to almost be cruising through the cargo area, looking for something. After about twenty minutes either an unlucky shot or a suicide switch reduced the fuel truck and the tank farm to a fireball, the explosion and fire destroying much of the cargo terminal and the aircraft used by various international parcel services.

Everyone was looking at Logan. "Coincidence." After a second he shook his head. "Yeah, I don't think so either."

They'd landed twice since leaving New York. They'd been ambushed twice. All in less than a hundred hours. It had been five days since Dr Risman had been killed. The more that happened, the more it felt like that wasn't the end of a chain of events, but the start of one. It had called them out into the open. To capture them, to kill them, to weaken the Institutes's security...

No, the others were more than capable of taking care of themselves. He knew some of the kids thought of him as a safety blanket- if Mr Logan is around, nothing really bad can happen. He closed his eyes, leaning back in the pilot's seat. He'd give the New Mutants better than even odds against Sabertooth or Juggernaut at this point, they were fine without him. Even X-Factor could probably deal with Victor or Cain if Magnus or Scott and Jean were with them.

He looked over his shoulder.

They were good kids- smarter than hell, fit, they had their heads on tight and straight. Yes, even Remy, although they were his morals. So why had he let them follow him into the meat grinder...

_-neXt_

"There's, like, no one in control down there." Kitty frowned. They'd called for air traffic control at the one real airport on the island of Madripoor. They were politely informed it was a private strip and the SAM battery had a lock on them, thank you very much. There was also the babble of half a dozen or so other voices, shouting over each other. One guy promised the best price for fuel on the island, and someone shot back it was contaminated with sea water. A third was shouting that the others would strip your aircraft to the frame as soon as you walked away. And that was just the English speakers.

"Madirpoor is a free state- stable anarchy. That's why all the corporations have offices here, nothing is illegal." They were making a slow orbit of the island. They'd seen lots of major corporate logos on buildings- Hammer Labs, Roxxon Oil, OzCorp, any multinational with the slightest hint of dirt in their backgrounds. They had glittering spires on the high ground, and solid warehouses and factories lower towards the coast that looked almost like medieval fortifications. There were entire villages made of boats and small ships lashed together, many of them looking like they had seen one more typhoon or monsoon than they really wanted. A warren made of old shipping containers, looking like an ant farm made of Legoes. The market sprawled easily two square miles, tucked into a corner between the docks, the towers and the hovels.

A voice with a thick Texas accent crackled from the speakers."Big black jet over my head! Tiger Court might not have the cheapest place to land, but it is the safest if you can land here. Five hundred American or Euro a day- I'll take Kong, Kiwi, Canadian, and Aussie dollars, pounds or rand at this morning's rate, no mark up! I'll toss in clean water, hot showers and cheap American food. Look for the big blue cat!"

"There he is." Kurt pointed. The big blue cat was a giant blue neon sign, set to be seen from the sky, in the shape of a tiger. There was an eight hundred or so meter runway, it looked like WWII-era pierced steel planking filled with gravel or coral, with several Russian made gun ships and transport helicopters. A number of military tents stretched between the runway and the beach, under the watchful eyes of a small flotilla of older military vessels. "It isn't the worst price we've heard."

"Tiger Court, this is that big black jet- what's with the firepower?. And three hundred a day."

"WHAT? Three hundred? My children will starve at four fifty, and only if I sell the youngest!"

_-neXt_

There was a skinny kid with two flags at the end of the run way, white teeth flashing in a face darkened by sun and wind. He hadn't even flinched as _Blackbird _ made her approach, almost creeping up on the planking with the stall alarm nagging Kurt. Logan's fingers rested lightly on the thrust vectoring controls, ready to throw the louvers to vertical, but they were trying to hide that capability.

They followed the boy on he directed them to a place on the pavement. Rather than the usual "follow me" truck, he just jogged, his hearing protected by a pair of thick muffs. He held the two flags out at arms' reach, waving one if he was going to turn in that direction. It wasn't fancy, it would give a western occupational safety inspector a stroke, but it worked.

The mercenaries were watching to. _Blackbird_ was better than anything they were used to seeing here in the lowlands, but there were much more advanced looking craft up at the corporate field. They called themselves the Bastard Sons of Perestroika- as the Soviet Union fell apart, almost anything could be sold or stolen. Even a battalion of mother Russia's finest marine infantry, their equipment and the ships they needed for transportation. Well, so, they stole themselves, and added allies from much of the former Communist countries in Europe and Asia. Over a decade later Moscow was still... _annoyed_ with them. They were selling themselves t the highest bidder, but right now, it was a buyer's market. American, western European and British Commonwealth "security contractors" were the popular choice, not a band of AWOL Russians.

A squat figure pushed himself through the crowd as the ramp dropped, wearing a pair of jeans and a once white t-shirt long stained to match the floor of a hangar. He growled something in Russian, making the crowd pull back, before facing the new comers. "Welcome to Madripoor! I am Tiger Cortez, and this is Tiger's Bayside Aerospace and Naval Court." He grinned- even he couldn't take the grandiose title seriously. Or maybe it was because it sounded like the name of a high tech trailer park. "So who pays the rent?"

"I do." Logan reached into his leather jacket, digging out the bundle of carefully counted bills. "Three days worth, as we agreed."

Cortez shuffled through the bills, pulling several of them up and holding them in sunlight for a fast check against counterfeits. He sniffed a couple, even nibbled on the corner of one. "Ahh... Excellent. If they are false, they are very, very good." There was always the question of North Korean or Iranian forgeries- some of them even had the newer safety features, but it was easy enough to make a bill look older.

"They're real." These were crisp, taken from the Professor's safe the morning they'd left- it wasn't widely known that the Professor kept a stash of liquid funds for situations where social lubrication or an anonymous transaction was needed. Logan, Ororo, Scott, Jean, they knew; Logan was pretty sure Magnus knew or suspected. The only problem with them were they were all new bills, still in bank wrappers. New bills, in sequence, would raise eyebrows but since they spanned several printing years it could be written off as a rich man's eccentricity; if ever raided, ziplock bags of well used twenties and hundreds could easily be remanufactured into "evidence" of connections to drugs or organized crime.

"This is your first time on my lovely island, right?" Cortez looked at them. "Madripoor is a lusty, evil place, crawling with life like a dung hill. It is a city of cons, whores, smugglers, pushers, mutants, wizards, drug wholesalers, organ leggers, pimps, mad scientists, assassins, hackers, mercenaries, recruiters, aliens, fences, terrorists, beggars, clandestine surgeons, forgers, arms dealers, slavers- you name it, it's bought and sold here. The only law is don't start trouble- there aren't any cops to protect you, so you better be able to take care of yourselves. Most people here follow that rule; others don't last so long. There is security, but they follow the order of whoever hired them, not some judge. You can shout for help, someone might help, but someone else might just steal your shoes while you bleed to death."

"I think we've got that covered, Bub." Logan unsheathed his claws, letting them glitter in the sun.

"Ah. So I see. Then you should know this- this is Madirpoor. The only place on Earth where if a four armed, legless, snake mutant with eyes in the back of his head can slither up to a bar and he'll be served. He might get charged more, though. But if people run their mouths, don't throw the first punch."

_-neXt_

They spent the first day searching. The information had been the 'fat man in Madripoor'. Finding one guy out of over million, just by looking at waistlines- even in the third world conditions most of them lived in, a few big guys in positions of power were to be expected. And you can't walk up to every one of them ask if they were HYDRA agent. But there were certain telltales they could use to locate HYDRA fronts. Laura knew them all; Logan had learned most of them the hard way, while looking for her.

They were searching for the clues going street to street, hoping that there were no new ones. They were looking in threes, Kurt teleporting them at least a mile from where _Blackbird_ waited on standby for an emergency lift off.

The second day, they had a nibble of a sort.

A turbaned man, dark skinned and bearded called out to Rogue, Remy and Laura. "You! You, young lady! Thank you!" The three X-men looked at each other. They hadn't done anything, but he was pointing to Laura, motioning her closer. "You saved my life."

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met." That the man was shouting to them in English made it a little more odd, but it was also one of the more common languages here.

"Five, no six days ago, you and your sister. You scared off the thugs who wanted to tell me my fortune." He gestured to the cards before him- a fortune teller, undoubtedly among other things. The cost of a spot in the main market was probably more than simple street entertainment could provide. He had several foam coolers behind him- they could hold anything from still beating human hearts to fresh fish to love potions that might even work. "I am in your debt."

Laura looked around. This could be a trap- it would be a classic one if it was. She wished Rogue and Gambit weren't there- she could deal with a sniper. She'd rather have Kitty or Kurt with them- they could at least get the other out of danger. The bigger danger was more someone in the crowd. It wouldn't be much, something quiet, discrete, she'd have used a blade. But it was the first bit of news they had. "My sister?"

"Yes, your twin perhaps? You were here with your tall blond friend. He was looking at you protectively- your boyfriend? Oh, you blush- not your boyfriend? Do you want him to be? Shall we ask the cards how your love life will be? This one is free, repayment for your help."

Laura glanced over her shoulder. Rogue nodded, holding back to keep watch. They both knew the cards would attract Remy's professional attention. Her friends didn't blend in- Laura had been made to blend in. She could go almost anywhere, and while she might be light or dark skinned for an area, with right make up she could blend in anywhere from Italy to India, and all through the Americas. She picked up accents quickly, mimicking those around her unless she made an effort not to. Rogue and Remy looked very American, and sounded even more so.

"I am looking for my sisters. Did they say where they had been? Where they were going."

"They didn't, but let me think... One carried a folder, with a typhoon of snakes on it, twisted together. I've seen that symbol on buildings... I don't remember where." As he spoke, he shuffled. Laura grimaced- that was one of the signs they'd been looking for, and only a few days ago. Assuming this man was telling the truth. He held out the cards. "Cut the deck?"

Part of Laura wanted to be very literal, pulling the information from him, but they'd already watched on attempted thief eat a sword blade for his troubles. It hadn't set well with him, the the thief was in need of medical treatment. Like embalming. Subtle first- she shuffled it one time herself and broke the deck into three parts, twisting two of them about. "OK."

"Ah... you want to be sure it is your fortune." The man laid the cards face down, fingers moving quickly. Then he started to turn them. First Death- Laura twitched slightly at that, she remembered what Remy had said about the first card describing the person being asked about. That paused the hand for a moment, but it continued, his face getting longer and longer. His eyes looked years older. "No... oh no... It says you will kill, little one. And you will die soon. At the hand of one you trust. The cards are confusing, it's almost like- you aren't planning suicide are you? Why, you know love."

Remy's voice was soft. " 'Member, dey show what could be, no what will be. 'Tis a warnin, no a promise."

"I know. Thank you." She nodded to the fortune teller, and slowly, quietly walked away.

"Suga, the cards don't mean a thing unless yah believe them."

"It doesn't matter if I do or not. We know more now. There are at least three X-23s, he saw two of them while the one that killed Dr Risman was traveling. And they had a Sabertooth. We know that HYDRA is on the island, and functioning. "

The old fortune teller watched them disappear, shaking his head sadly. He gathered the cards, shuffling the deck and tried to cast the young lady again. The same cards. A third time, the same. Through the day, he'd think of the girl and the young couple with them. The girl's cards were always the same. Those of her friends varied only a little, and were only slightly better than hers. He even looked to make sure his deck still had not some how changed. When he did, her cards were ordered at the bottom. "I'm so, so sorry. Death should not come for one so young."

_-neXt_

They were dragged from sleep by an air raid siren at the Son's encampment. Seconds latter, it joined by sound like giant hands tearing bolts of fabric in half and then a pair of muted thuds.

"Vhat vhas dat?"

"Automatic cannon in the 20-to-25 millimeter range, high cyclic rate, probably multibarrel and radar guided. Some kind of close in defensive system." Laura wasn't as well schooled in ship mounted weapons, but she was familiar with the general category of weapons. She'd heard cannons like that, on a helicopter, chasing her. No human gunner could track a missile, but radar could. The shots had come from the ships, so the rest was logical.

The Russians were shouting, running. In under three minutes from the time a pair of seaskimming missiles were destroyed before the Son's helicopters were in the sky, hunting the hunter.

Logan spotted the proprietor, red faced and sweating. "Hey, Court, are we under attack?"

"Not us, just them. ROSTOV!" Cortez's bellow could be heard even trough the roar of rotors. The lean, weathered and scarred leader of the Sons waved to them from across the pad and jogged over.

"Is just Uncle Vladamir- he's still pissed I stole his toy boats." The self-style General threw his head back with a laugh."Don't worry, my boys will track down whatever sent those and sink the nekulturny dogs."

"Hey- your little war stays out of my front yard or I'll throw your ass out in the middle of the night." Cortez glanced at the X-men. "Logan, a moment alone? I'm sorry about the disturbance, we'll talk about a discount for the day, but..." He jerked his thumb at the Russians.

"Yeah, sure." Logan turned, gathering the X-men up by eye and leading them aboard _Blackbird_.

He closed the hatch, before looking at them. "Anyone else think we might have been the target?"

"If was the Russians, they can afford more than two missiles." Laura's voice was soft. She held Alex's hand- she didn't need to be a telepath to guess what he was thinking. Cruise missiles were a lot bigger than anything she'd had thrown at her, to. If she had to take out the Sons, she'd have brought in commandos by boat or helicopter after sinking the ships with torpedoes, or enough missiles to saturate the defenses.

Rogue was looking about the cabin. She had returned to the thought she'd had earlier. HYDRA knew where they were. They'd taken pains to keep anyone from finding where they were staying, it had to be someone here. And they'd never mentioned HYDRA to Cortez or any of the Russians. Unless there were wanted posters that she hadn't seen, it had to be someone in this cabin.

She felt dirty, looking at her friends like this, wondering which one might have betrayed them. She ruled out Logan- if was him, he'd have killed them all. Kitty? No, Kitty would never betray Kurt; she knew Kurt would never betray her or Kitty. Alex? No, it couldn't be Alex, could it? There had been the letter from Scott, and Jean would have known if he was hiding something, right?

Laura. No, never, if she had a faith it was that she was a Xavier student now, this was her family. But there was another X-23 out there. What if that assassin's masters had somehow slipped them a double? But why? Maybe to get them here, to capture and copy them. Or maybe it was like was like the chip in Logan's head, not a chip, they'd checked. But what if there was something in the evidence photos that had then turned on something in Laura's head.

She startled when she felt a hand on her arm. "You feelin' ok, cheri?"

Remy. Remy. Remy was a thief, he'd worked for the highest bidder. But he wouldn't betray her? Would he? She knew he carried his little black book, the one he had never let her look in. What was in there? Telephone numbers for other women? Women he could touch? But he liked being at the Xavier Institute, he loved her. He'd told her that. He'd told...

"Remy, have yah ever lied to me?" Her voice was icy cold, brittle.

Gambit wouldn't have been much more surprised if she'd pulled a fresh fish from thin air and slapped him with it. "What?'

"Yah heard me, cajun, have yah ever lied to me?" Her voice was rising.

Everyone was looking at them. Logan growled. "Rogue?"

"Logan, what if we've got a leak. What if someone told them were we are?"

Remy's eyes were wide. "I wou' nevah do dat, yah know dat Rogue. Don' even joke 'bout dat."

"Ah'm not joking, _Suga_." Rogue's lips were pulled back. "Yah go into town alone every so often, even Ah don' know where yah go. What if yah are tellin' someone our secrets? Someone yah can touch? Yah worked for whoever paid best- how do Ah know yah aren't doin' it again?"

"Rogue." He chest hurt. "I..." He was at a loss for words. He took a ragged breath. There was a way. "Take a' long a' yah need to."

Before she could respond, he took her cheeks gently in his hands, kissing her, hard. He felt like he was being torn in two, the contents of his brain turned upside down and shaken out in a pile. He could barely breath, it was like touching an electrical line. His bones were crackling, like fat dripping into a fire, he could hear it, it was his skull. He felt his eyes roll back up in his head as his knees buckled. _I love you, Rogue._

With a sharp cry, she pushed him into his chair, pulling herself back against the fuselage. She covered her mouth, tears in her eyes. He lay there, limp, lifeless, eyes open but unseeing. "Ah mah Gawd... wha ha' Ah done? Remy? Ah'm sorry, so sorry."

**Authors notes:**

First off, yes, the description of Madripoor is a modified quote of Robert Heinlein's description of Vicksburg low town from _Friday_. I use parts of Friday's persona in my characterization of Laura. Not the libido, obviously.

And I don't blame Rogue for anything. One time is bad luck. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.

And walking fins for people who caughty it- they are the coolest bit of dive gear I've ever seen. Forget facemasks that incorporate vox communications or have heads up displays built into them. Omega Aquatics flipfins are the bomb- they blades flip up to get out of the way when you are on the beach or the boarding ladder, or you need to chase that sentry down rather than... Well, never mind about that. But they are better for short distance swims- there are longer, flexible fins for long distance swimming that give you fish feet in the water and the worst case of clown shoes on the beach.


	7. Chapter 7

**Weapon neXt  
**by Ironraven, with editing/beta-reading by BabyBeaver

Real world still sucks bunches.

**_-neXt-_**

Remy Etienne LeBeau had known several women, but there was one who made him forget them all. She thought he was a betrayer, that he'd lied to her. To all of them. He couldn't blame her, the first time they'd met he'd handed her a bomb- it was a little one, but still, it wasn't how you introduced yourself to a lady. He'd tried to hit with his staff when all she'd wanted was a kiss. Then he'd kidnapped her. And broken her heart.

But she had saved him. She had the power to take. Take a power, a memory, a life. She hadn't had to touch him, just be near him. She'd pulled a devil from him. Saved him from himself.

She'd waited for him, then given him people to care about, not just her, but her brother, his friend, maybe the best friend he'd ever had. Her friends, the two that were like sisters to her. A family that cared about him because he was Remy, not because he had his powers. He pulled in a breath- it hurt to breathe, but it was going to be the last one for a while.

"Take a' long a' yah need to." Gambit's hands were bare, having pulled himself from his sleeping bag at the sound of the cannon fire, palms and fingers cupping her bare skin. He felt the shock, but he still had a little bit of control. He felt her lips on his, firm but soft, warm even in the tropical night. She inhaled- the pull of air sucked some of that breath from him. He licked her lip lightly. Then her powers really hit him.

He opened the darkest corners of his mind to her, turning on the lights. She could have pulled them open, torn the doors off their hinges, but he welcomed her. Things he'd done, things he was once proud of, many he was now shamed by. Everything, it was hers. His body hurt, but he didn't pull away, wouldn't have if he could, she had to be able to look, to see.

He could feel his skin shrinking, almost about to burst as it stretched. His nerves vibrated like guitar strings, wires of fire and ice and purest pain whipping at him, flaying him. He wouldn't close his mind, she had to see.

His bones were vibrating out of synch with the rest of his body. He could feel the fat in the marrow melting out, starting to boil, the pressure making his bones swell and crack. He was being fried from within, but he wouldn't look away.

Then there was a calm in the storm. His heart, beating. It was racing, but so was hers, enough of his nerves functioned for him to feel it under his fingers. They were beating together, in time through the maelstrom. He showed her where he had been going.

He felt the fire licking his mind, making it melt as she stole his power. Just a little with every heart beat. He couldn't speak. He couldn't see. He couldn't move. But he could think. _I love you, Rogue._

Then darkness.

_-neXt_

Kurt bamfed back to them. He pulled Remy down onto the deck, checking him over. Pulse good. Respirations good. His roommate's skin was chilled and clammy, but having been zapped by Rogue before he knew that was normal. He opened one eyelid, then the other; the pupils matched. A quick check with the penlight Kurt carried showed they reacted normally.

"ROGUE! What was that?" Logan

"Ah'm sorry Logan." She was nearly crying. She'd seen everything in Remy's mind, she hadn't had to pull it out by force, everything was open to her. The the first and last thing she'd felt was his heart. He loved her. He hadn't been betraying anyone. "Oh Gawd... Dat's wheh..."

Someone offered Kurt a stethoscope and blood pressure meter from one of the first aid kits, he didn't look who. Gambit wasn't even in shock- he knew his friend had been stealing kisses, little pecks on the cheek or shoulder, he'd probably built up a tolerance for what every it was that made his sister's power work. Unless she'd broken something in his brain, Remy would have one impressive head ache.

"Rogue! Pull it together, and tell me the hell that was."

"Ah wa' 'fraid we ha' a spy in our midst, mon ami. Oh Gawd, Ah thought it was Remy." She knew his full name now- not that hard of a guess. She didn't think the Professor knew it. The things he'd kept secret, he'd thrown the doors open and let her look."He go off, 'lone, an' wid' his past..." She looked around, fearfully. Her eyes stopped at Laura.

Rogue felt sick. She knew she could trust these people. Of all people, there was no way she could have not trusted Laura. But Laura was nodding that calm, old-lady nod she had that gave Rogue the shivers when she used it. No one that young should have that nod. "You suspected me. We know there is more than one X-23; in their position, I'd have infiltrated a copy of me into the Institute."

"What? Laura?"

"Rogue, have you lost your mind?"

"You're crazy!"

"SHUT UP!" Kurt's tail was lashing the air angrily, while his lips were pulled back, baring his fangs. "Gott en himmel, what is wrong with us?"

Laura shook her head. "This is what they want us to do. If we get paranoid and turn on each other, we will be easier to fight. HYDRA does this. I did this for them." Laura held out her hand. "If was I replacement, I would say this too. But there are things that only Logan knows about. I got impaled on a pine tree last fall, when we went camping. If it had been anyone but me or Logan or maybe Sabertooth, they'd have been dead."

Laura looked down a little, almost like she was blushing. "And I gave you a card, on.. on..." She couldn't bring herself to say it. Even here in front of her friends. She couldn't admit she'd give her prototype a father's day card, not out loud.

"Yeah, you're you." Logan nodded. "So we know we are us." He pointed three fingers at Kurt, Rogue and Kitty. "And I"d know you three by scent anywhere; and there's no way a clone of one of you coule hide it from the other two."

Kurt had been hesitant to let Rogue get close to Remy again. One more good zap and the Swamp Rat was a goner. He watched her carefully as she sat down, gently lifting his head into her lap. She was breathing slowly, deeply, trying not to cry as she run her gloved hands through his hair.

Logan's head was still filled with ideas that started with landing the _Blackbird_ in Australia and calling Chuck for a ride home. Someone else could fly this one back; they were all going nutty.

But he knew that Rogue had come within fractions of an inch of getting killed; she'd been splashed with some of that assassin's brain when he killed himself. He also knew she had doubts- she was the only one of the original class whose powers weren't offensive or defensive; that was why he'd tried to get the Professor to give her permission to carry something. Anything. She had had lot of weapons training growing up- stick, staffs, even thrown blades. She'd shown several times she could hit fist sized, flying target with a shuriken. He could say a lot of things about whatever Destiny and Mystique had had in mind for her, but they'd made sure she could take care of herself.

He was still trying to estimate the distance to the Outback, when Kitty shouted. "I found it! We got a bug."

Kitty Pryde had wondered about the chance of some kind of beacon. It would make sense. But how would it have gotten on board. It could have meant a traitor, but she'd already come to the same conclusion that Logan had. They'd had people near _Blackbird_ plenty of times, and it wasn't exactly anonymous. After Kansas grainy pictures had even ended up in _Aviation Week_, along with one of a SHIELD jetcopter. They'd landed at airports for years, and they didn't bother to leave someone to guard the plane, instead trusting the sensors. Sure, they went over it, inside and out, with a fine tooth comb every week or so as part of people's chores, but what about between the cabin and the skin, the real guts of the aircraft. Plenty of places to leave a beacon, and it didn't need to be as big as a roll of quarters. She'd gotten a hit on a odd frequency, almost no one used it according to the chart and never this low powered. But there was signal, a nice, neat, clean series of beeps. Kitty scribbled the frequency on the back of her hand. "No one move, this is going to take a few minutes."

She walked quickly into the cargo hold, not bothering to open doors. Shadowcat unstrapped one of the plastic cases that carried her electronics tools, looking for something she'd hoped she'd packed... and she had it. She screwed the antenna into the device and turned it on. Once she had the right frequency dialed in, she swung it around slowly, very slowly.

She followed the signal, until she was back into the main cabin. She moved in slow, swinging sweeps, watching the needle, guided by it. She stopped when the clicking box pressed against Laura's hip. "Did you keep that medallion?"

Laura closed her eyes. Of course. Of course the HYDRA medal had been a trap. She should have known better. What if they'd sprayed slow neurotoxin on it, or a bioweapon? She lifted her hip, digging it out of her pocket. The speaker squealed happily, it couldn't click that fast. "Our bug. They must have staked out the warehouse."

"Trade." Kitty handed Laura the directional signal meter, then took the medallion in her hand, phasing through it. The clicking stopped.

_-neXt_

He became aware of pain. Not horrible, screaming and writhing pain, but lots of it. He felt like he'd been dropped from a height, then something had landed on him. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and every part of him ached. He could feel something on his scalp. Fingers, stroking. Hmm... even if it made the ache worse, that felt good.

He knew his eyes would be sensitive. He'd been zapped my Rogue before. Oh man, that was stupid, but it was the best possible plan, the most sure plan. He carefully opened his eyes. "Am Ah dead?"

"What do yah think?" Rogue tried to smile, but it broke as she realized just how close she'd come to killing him.

"Don' know." He cupped her hand is, feeling the warmth on his cheek and palm through the leather. "Remy is lookin' at an angel."

Further forward, Laura, Kitty and Logan shared a look. Gambit was going to be fine- he was being smooth. They were looking at the remaining circuitry of the beacon. They had a bit they were pretty sure was a power supply, of an unknown type, part of a radio crystal and a single integrated circuit that probably had controlled the whole works, pitted and grey, either from the electromagnetic interference from Kitty phasing through it, or from the small explosive charge that had been inside to keep just this type of curiosity at bay. Laura had taken it outside, carefully cutting away the casing. She had barely enough time to flick the surviving components into the sand between the time she realized her claw had just shorted against the case and the time the igniter fired.

That hadn't been pleasant. She'd waited a few minutes, pretending to study the chips as the flesh regrew over her fingertips- the explosion had taken them to the bone. She was very careful to make sure there was no blood on her clothing. She'd carried the chip inside, reassuring them she was all right, it had just disoriented her for a minute. Logan probably knew, and Alex might have. He was standing in the hatch way, biting his lip and watching her, when she turned around. But he knew she could take that. She could take a lot more. She hadn't wanted to scare the others; she wished Havok hadn't seen anything.

He and Kurt were outside now, keeping watch. Or maybe talking. Kurt was angry, angry at the whole damn mess. He was angry with both Rogue and Remy- this was about the worst time for them to have one of their fights. Or was it a fight? Remy knew better than to do that, and Rogue had let him, she never let anyone touch her. He had his fears for Laura and the other X-23s, and he was holding Kitty's nightmares too. And he knew how much Laura was afraid of something like this- she once asked him to, if she ever went crazy again and he could do it safely, to take her up has high as he could, and let go, let her fall. She'd live but it would be a while as she was putting herself back together. And he'd been using his powers a lot, they had been using him as a conveyor for days, carrying them in and out of locations. The Elf was strong for his size, but his skinny shoulders could only carry so much.

She hoped Alex's nearly boundless energy could help. But sooner or later, Alex would have a breaking point of his own.

_-neXt_

"Dude, it was all Yoko's fault." Kurt's eyes were slightly luminous in the dim light.

"She was one of the last straws, but let's face it, after the _White Album_, they were just babbling out anything and it sold because they were the Beetles." Alex grinned in the early morning light. He hadn't been able to get Kurt to talk about what he was thinking, but maybe he could wick away some of the blue man's stress with a debate about the death of the Beetles.

"Jah? Vhat about _Abbey Road_."

"Most of it was recorded before _Let it Be_, and almost all of it was written before _Submarine_. It was their last big album, and even then you could hear that they weren't meshing like they had." He shook his head, shaggy blond hair bouncing. "Seriously- Octopus's Garden? What wasn't Ringo on?"

"It was for kids."

_-neXt_

"You sure you're up for this. You could have died last night."

Remy shrugged on his equipment harness, but it was too warm for the trench coat. Besides, there was a lot more out there than just his staff. "Feelin' fine, Logan. Lil' wobbly, but a stretch ah the legs will make Remy feel jus' right."

"Logan, am I the medical officer on this mission?" Kurt's voice was soft. "If I am, you aren't going anywhere Remy."

Logan held back the sigh of relief he felt. "Fine. Gumbo, you're here for the morning. Alex, got your boots on?"

"What? Me?" Havok's eyes were wide. Logan wanted him. Not for the first time, that conversation by the fountain flashed through his mind. Was it only this spring. It seemed much further away.

"Just scouting around. You said you thought you saw that HYDRA sign near the west beach, right?" Logan recognized the symbol from the description. The first time he'd seen it, he'd in Atlanta been chasing down a rumor looking for Laura. The last time he'd seen it was a few hours later, after he'd confirmed that Laura wasn't there, and none of the HYDRA agents had seen her. He'd rigged a timer with a candle and a gas stove. The building had burned nicely.

"I _think_ so. Only one way to find out." He wasn't sure, maybe 50%. But it had been a good location- the building looked like offices, with a warehouse behind it, and its own pier. There had been a seaplane tied up there, but it could handle a small freighter. The gate had opened out onto what the locals called the Jasmine Road, connecting the deeper portages on the west side of the island with the corporate enclaves on the high ground. "Just us? What if we get attacked?"

"You can still run, right?"

"Uh.. yeah." Alex wasn't very reassured by that question.

_-neXt_

"So why just us?"

"Need you to show me where you saw our friends." Logan's head was swiveling casually. Someone looking around quickly stood out, but here, you stood out if you weren't aware.

Alex looked at a display of movies- the stall was built into a small, low riding truck. The dealer was offering discounts for those who bought over a hundred cases of any title. They were all new releases from around the world. "I could have done that on the map. Or-"

Logan snorted loudly. "Maybe I just wanted to see you working close up. Test you in the field- try not to screw up."

"What happens if I screw up?" Alex's voice was concerned, and not just the corporate troops passing by. He'd already seen one vendor grabbed by corporate security goons after he couldn't pay the needed bribe for the knock off medical equipment he was selling. Apparently the slim woman in the suit had been perfectly willing to let bootleg artificial hearts be sold on a dusty street, so long as her company got a cut of the profit for their design.

"You die and piss everyone off. Laura will cry and probably never talk to me, and your brother will try to kill me." _And he'd have every right._ "Relax- you've done fine so far." Infiltrating a secure hanger, evading the sensors on the _Blackbird_ in the process and Logan's nose. Good shooting in Iceland, he'd taken command smoothly in the aftermath and had helped Kurt relax. Not for the first time, Logan had wished Colonel Summers had survived; Slim1 and Slim2 had something in their blood that made them leaders. "Damn fine."

Alex blinked. A part of his brain was running over Logan's praise, while he kept watching, remembering his steps from the first day.

_-neXt_

"So vhe did you do it, man?" Kurt was sitting on the edge of the hatch, while his roommate was seated further down on the stairs. As far as he knew, the was the longest Rogue had tapped anyone. Laura had taken, by Rogue's estimate, seven seconds to drop. Remy had stayed with it for almost ten

Remy bit off the hangnail he'd been studying, softly spitting it onto the ground. "Dunno. Maybe 'cause I lied to her 'efor. Cheri was standing 'dere, 'fraid she been betrayed by someone close to her. I lied to her. Her... mothers lied to her. 'Specially dat 'Risty'. Even da Professer. Logan, Laura, Scott, maybe deh neveh tol' her a lie, but deh never tol' her all da truth sometimes. You might be da only one who never hid sumtin from yo' sister. So... It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Kurt nodded. It _did_ make sense in a twisted, semi-suicidal, 'I trust you, you can't hurt me' kind of way. Logan hadn't said they couldn't have the others out looking for something; he'd dropped the girls up by the high ground. That was why he could say what he was about to- Rogue was self conscious about her power, the way some girls were about their weight. "One of these days, Remy, you are going to do that, and you'll end up a house plant."

Remy swallowed- Rogue had a black thumb. Supposedly, you couldn't kill a spider plant, but she'd killed several.

_-neXt_

They had found the buildings. Four off them, two and three story industrial concrete block, and a sixty foot quonset hut. There was a low watch tower on top of the tallest one with a sentry. Four foot concrete wall- it would stop vehicles and provide good cover for anyone on the outside. The gate wasn't much, but there were cables across the path, telling him there was spike strips or maybe an anti-ignition pulse. There had been a guard at the tower, two at the gate, two more at the pier.

Alex had barely stopped, shaking his foot like it was sore. Logan hadn't even broken stride.

It was a few hundred yards later when Alex noticed something in the reflection inside his shades. "Logan?"

"Guy with the shiny teeth." Logan had noticed their tail as well. "Stay close."

Without seeming to rush, Logan took them down one of the routes that led inland. They weren't roads per say, not like the Jasmine, Lotus and Pearl Roads, but they were wide enough to let a vehicle pass with ease. They were hard packed dirt, although in many places they felt like the soil was frozen but warm and it had a slightly plastic smell to Logan's nose; in a few places, it had been vitrified, melted down and smoothed with high heat. This was one of those areas, lined with perhaps a better or at least more permanently financed class of business establishments.

Logan slid his hand into his pocket, thumbing the controls on his comm. He wasn't calling for backup. Not yet, but as they got closer to the market, the crowds got thicker. It wasn't as bad as a commuter train at rush hour, but there was enough of a crowd that they could be in an ambush and not know it until bodies were on the floor.

"Thirsty?" Logan angled towards one of those establishments that fit into the category of 'dive'.

It was dark inside, smelling of grilled seafood, cheap beer, and sweat. The sound system was playing what sounded like 80s rock but with wailing in some alien tongue. It was the kind of place where they didn't wash the glasses, the bottles didn't have labels, and first aid kit was a rusty old pistol. They charged extra for the bullet. One of the hostesses, or maybe she was something else, watched them, licking her lips as Alex turned a color of red that went well with his shirt.

Alex wasn't sure what language it was that was spoken to Logan when they got to the bar, but it made Logan have a little twitch. For moment, his eyes seemed to look inward, then he replied in what sounded like the same tongue. The only word that Alex recognized was 'Molson', which made the bartender laugh and shake his head. He was more concerned with watching the door in the mirror behind the bottles.

Two glasses appeared on the bar, filled with something slight green and fizzy. The ice was almost blue, it was so cold. Logan threw a few bills on the bar, taking a glass and going to the corner. Alex followed quickly, trying not to look so nervous, even when someone or something's tail stroked up the back of his leg. He remembered what Tiger Cortez had told them- this was probably the place.

"First rule of hiding in a bar kid, get a drink."

"What language was that?" Alex cautiously sniffed his drink. It smelled kind of like limes, kind of like something else.

"Dunno." Logan shook his head. He discovered he knew Russian the same way- then he's had to swallow his pride and eventually ask what language he'd been speaking fluently, causing the old man too look at him very oddly. He wasn't going to do it this time. He wanted to close his eyes, he had a splitting head ache all of a sudden, but he was waiting for their friend to follow. "So is it any good?"

Alex looked in his glass dubiously. "What is it?"

"Chanh muoi." He took a sip. It was good. "Pickled lime soda, I think."

Alex took a cautious sip. He'd eaten some odd things at home in Hawaii, mostly in the Asian markets, usually on a dare. It was a little sour, a little sweet, cooling. "Did I miss him?"

Logan had picked this table because the airflow carried any scent from the door to here, through the main part of the room. "Not unless he's a ghost. At least we know one thing- that's HYDRA's building all right. I recognized the rifles- the same ones they had in Canada."

Alex nodded. He wasn't brave enough to ask if Logan would have done it differently if it had been Remy or Kurt or Rogue with him instead. Or Laura. If it had been Logan and Laura, he knew the answer- they would have learned everything about the man who'd followed them. He sighed, then looked around. His eyes had adjusted. The walls were decorated with pictures, mostly snap shots. Some looked like tourist pictures, others like something from a history book, groups of people lined up in front of helicopter and boats and planes. Usually they were armed or in what looked like some kind of uniform. All over the world.

It reminded Alex of the pictures that his Dad had, from various times when the squadron had been deployed, and the ones from his Father. They also reminded him of the pictures that the Professor took before missions, the team photos. "Logan, what kind of a bar is this."

It was the kind of bar that Logan could spend a lot of time in. The kind if he ever stopped being an X-man and a teacher of X-men he could settle down with and run. He looked at the photos.

There was one, a picture of men before an old Huey. One had a bandaged eye, but he was grinning, his arms over the shoulders of the men who towered above him, his feet off the ground. He shook his head, looking away from it. He wanted to look at it again, like a moth drawn to a light, but another urge told him not to. The headache lessened if he looked away. He grunted, taking another swallow.

Some of them were ancient, going back over a hundred years. Africa, India, the Americas, Europe, even a few from China and Japan. He studied a picture of samurai in their armour- it must have been taken in the closing days of their civil war, before the Emperor was restored. There were more, from the last century, and more than a few from this new one not yet a decade into it.

An older lady came over, setting two more glasses on their table. She was speaking the language that Alex still couldn't place. Logan held out his hand, palm down. "Xin lỗi, I didn't order anything."

She showed her teeth browned by betle nuts and age. "Ohn da house. Fo' sunnava p'tch." She smiled shyly as she put her hand on Logan's, before looking away with a blush.

When she had shuffled away, Alex leaned closer. "What was that all about?"

"Dunno, kid." Logan massaged his temples.

Alex was still annoyed that Logan had hidden because he was baggage, but he was more bewildered. It was one of the odder mornings he'd had since Scott had returned. And he'd done a lot of odd things since then.

**-Author's notes:**

So, did you really think I was going to kill off the Cajun? Really? HAH! But Rogue will have some serious long term trust issues.

As I've said before, I use songs to describe people and their relationships. I know, for a guy who can't read music and can't carry a tune in a bucket, it is an odd habit. My song for Rogue and Remy as a couple is Santana's _Into the Night_. Listen to the lyrics, and think about how he sees her. The other song that almost fits, it just needs a tiny rewrite, for them is _Lousiana Woman, Mississippi Man_. Remy wouldn't let a little creek and some big lizards keep him away from his lady friend.

We've seen Rogue using weapons, no one else from the first class. Remy's staff, and something that looks like it was supposed to be a throwing star (see episode _Beast of Bayville_, when Hank went blue, the scene in the Danger Room). Her powers are those of a scavenger- if she touches no one, she is merely the girl who can't be touched. If she hurts people, steals from them, she can have powers like those around her. There are times where that is useful, but we know it messes with her head.

The Madripoor market is an exaggeration, but not a great one. It is shown as a wholesale scale thing- the real ones are retail. You can find them anywhere where the laws are lax and you don't ask questions.

Yes, that was Vietnamese Logan was speaking. Yes, pickled lime soda is yummy.


	8. Chapter 8

**Weapon neXt  
**by Ironraven, with editing/beta-reading by BabyBeaver

Sorry for the long delay. Real world sucked more than usual the past month- September had a side trip through several level of hell.

**_-neXt-_**

"So where did you three go to?" Logan's hands were on his hips, waiting in the hatchway to the cockpit when Kurt brought the girls back from where ever they had been.

"Shopping" Kitty tossed her pack onto the bench just inside the hatch.

"Shopping?"

Kurt, Remy and Alex shared a look. They weren't going to make a crack about "retail therapy".

"Yes, Logan, shopping." Rogue expected someone to say something to.

"We needed supplies." Laura didn't bother to respond to the stereotypes. She understood the relaxation that others felt while acquiring property. For Kitty, it was clothes and books; Rogue went more for music and parts for the truck she was fixing. Alex bought movies, anime or outdoors gear (while bemoaning the lack of surfing near New York). She relaxed by training. She dropped the bag she was carrying in her left hand, which landed with a clank like metal plates coming together, then shrugged off the large rucksack she was wearing. That was mostly food. "US, Australian, Japanese and Singapore combat rations, rice, dried fish, and Spam. And information."

"Who did you talk to?" Alex wasn't quite sure he wanted to know if Asian military food was worse than American. When he camped, he took the freeze-dried stuff mostly. He'd eaten MREs before- he'd almost rather be hungry.

Kitty grinned, setting down her bags. "The major dealer in non-staple foods on the island. He was willing to tell us all kinds of information about all of his customers."

"And why did he do that?" Logan frowned. They were getting low on food, but not all of this smelled like anything he'd want to eat. Especially the SPAM, he hated the stuff. Although a food importer here probably took trade. "Is that a satellite antenna?"

"His warehouse is on a barge. And those can sink."

Logan closed his eyes. He really hadn't wanted to know that the three girls had just shaken someone down with a protection scheme, even if they were a bad guy. He wasn't looking forward to getting them calmed down when this was all over.

_-neXt_

The data was a match. The food merchant had been sending a lot of the finer items he come across to the same compound that Logan and Alex had checked on. And he'd been taking weapons and explosives in trade.

Laura growled as she related that. "Before we destroyed it, trading HYDRA's energy weapons for fish eggs would have gotten him skinned. We couldn't get a description of the 'fat man'- his flunkies do the trades."

"So what do you know about him?"

"Nothing. I was never here."

Logan nodded. HYDRA was cell-based. You knew the people in your own team. Your team leader and maybe one other knew someone above them or below them. That made it harder to destroy too much if you were caught and made to talk.

"The weather looks like rain. That will be a help." Alex looked hopeful as he ran his fingers over the photos and maps. There were red and blue marks on several of them, where he or Logan had seen cameras, doors or places where guards were likely to be. The others had made marks as well- Laura and Gambit had both gone over the images. Where all four of them had marked something, it was being taken as a certainty. He'd only made a few though- he had been pretty tentative about most of them.

"Kurt, do you think you can get us in with two 'ports?" Logan didn't like it. There was a risk that the first team would be cut off and alone while Kurt brought in the others.

"Maybe. But if he's really big, I might not be able to get us all out very quickly." Kurt wasn't going to admit it, but he was also worried. They'd tested how much he could carry, and they'd learned some things were harder than others to carry- like Logan, for some reason. He was also just tired- he was afraid he'd drop someone somehow in that place, it was one of his nightmares.

Kitty knew she could handle a lot more than Kurt. "I could phase us through, maybe with a truck if we can find one."

"What happened with just sneaking in?" Alex tapped the image of the dock. "We have some scuba gear- the rain will hide the bubbles. Me, Laura, Rogue and maybe one more, come up from the dock."

Laura tapped a point. "Here, there is a blind spot in the likely cameras and the watch tower's light. It is a little over three meters wide, but it would be safest here."

Logan frowned. He didn't like it, splitting the team like this. He had made plans for splitting them, but he didn't want to do it. "What if you are spotted?"

Rogue glanced at him. "We get their attention, and the rest of you get in and get the fat man."

"Then what? I'm not going to let you die out there!"

"Then I'll go with them." Kitty frowned. She'd never liked fighting, but she was good at it. Dancing had made her flexible and agile, it had been a good preparation to learning with Logan. That, and having been bullied for all of junior high. She'd even studied some basic swordsmanship with Kurt, and then Logan and Betsy.

Kurt nodded. "I can get the three of us into there then. But how do we get out."

"Steal a boat, steal a truck- we'll need to use what comes up."

Laura shook her head. "We don't even know what he looks like, other than our assumption he is obese."

They all reacted to that. That was the big problem.

They didn't even know the half of it.

_-neXt_

Alex was the last in line, keeping track of the others as his legs moved with rhythm almost as natural as walking. He loved the ocean- surfing was what he was best at, but swimming free or with tanks, boating, just sitting on the edge the sea and listening to the waves. It was his element. The rain hit the water with an odd noise- it was calming, but not in a dreamy way. It kept him at more a low simmer, eager, or maybe it was just the hormones talking.

Laura had been checking the GPS wrapped to her wrist every few seconds, then the map sketched in bold black lines on white plastic 'paper', and clipped to her dive board. She had tiny chemlights attached to her fins for the others to follow, barely more than tiny beads. She knew that Kitty was watching them intently- she wasn't sure, but she thought she might have accidentally slapped Kitty with a fin few times. She knew her friend was worried about getting lost and was swimming very close.

Rogue was to the right of and between them. She was glancing at the compass strapped to her wrist, and the little blinker light she wore next to her watch. The later was connected to a box on her weight belt and would alert her if they'd been hit by sonar in any of a number of frequencies. Kitty had cobbled it up from the parts she'd carried- they hoped it would work.

Laura could see the shadow of a dock ahead. She'd been counting them as they swam. This was the right one, or they were going to be in for a rude shock. The slowly made their under the pier, feeling for obstructions. Kitty had already had to cut Rogue out of a length of netting- other than Laura, they carried dive knives as part of their safety gear.

The counted each other by touch in the dark, then Rogue reach back and turned off her air before kicking her way up to the surface softly. She silently looked around- there was a boat, about the right length for what Logan had described. She took a deep breath and let herself sink down to the others. She tapped them each on the shoulder- she might not have been the best choice to look first, but she was in charge of this element. It was her responsibility.

They rose up slowly. The rain hammered on the wooden planks that formed the deck of the plank and cut visibility to thirty, maybe thirty five feet. They crept their way up to the shallows, helping each other to remove their tanks. They left them at the base of a piling where they could be found, and with a demolitions charge. It was the same kind Rogue had used in Libya, she and Kurt and Logan. They set the timer for four hours, about an hour after sunrise. The would be gone by then, or the mission had been an utter failure.

They each had a small, water tight bag carrying a few tools, a headset, and for some of them night vision. Alex had a set of straps, to carry his fins like a backpack- he wasn't leaving them behind, the others weren't so picky. He also had a coil of rope; Laura had a roll of duct tape and a set of lock picks. Kitty had a tiny computer that she wore on her belt and displayed on her visor. Rogue was carrying two more charges and thermal ribbon to cut locks. But the first thing they had to do was deal with the guard or guards.

Laura paused before she stole up the side of the piling, moving with almost feline grace. She paused in the shadows, listening before moving again. It was a strain, but she was fairly sure there was only one, pacing. She slid up onto the decking, behind the man. She kicked his knee, making him fall, then wrapped her arms around him, trapping him in a sleeper hold. He was strong, but he'd been surprised. He struggled for a few seconds, then she heard a voice from the end of the pier. Behind her- she had only heard one set of steps, how long had that other guy been down there?

The surprise and the threat triggered a response that was once an instinct. Her fist tightened, releasing her claws. One pushed between the base of the sentry's skull and first vertebrate, into his brainstem. The other slipped between the second and the third, and exited at the front of his throat through the voice box. She hadn't wanted to kill. It had just happened. It was what she was good at. She was one of the best at it.

She dropped the first target, closing in just a few steps with the second guard. He must have been down at the end of the pier, hiding in the rain. He hadn't even reached for his slung weapon, covered by his poncho. She jabbed three fingers into his solar plexus, hitting the nerve cluster there and temporarily stunning the muscle of his diaphragm. His eyes widened in pain, not able to breathe or to scream. She took his head in both hands, pulling down as she brought her knee up sharply. She kept her grip on his head as he crumpled to his knees. It had only taken a few seconds. She wrapped the tape around his head several times, feeling the now broken jaw shift a little. Then his arms behind his back, and his legs. She searched him quickly, taking his weapons, radio, and key cards before dragging him to the edge. She lowered him down to her teammates, who zip tied him to the underside of the pier.

She similarly restrained the corpse, making sure to put extra tape around the neck. She was ashamed of having killed him- she's missed the second guard. If she hadn't, the first would still be alive. There was little blood for having basically decapitated him. The other reason she'd taped the wound was because if they had to run for it, they wanted to have the option of being able to swim out. The blood would attract fish, including sharks- those would be a complication. She passed him down to Rogue.

The weapons the guards had carried were well known to her. The one she'd killed had one of the ubiquitous Kalashnikovs that one found almost anywhere English wasn't the main language. The other had had a HYDRA energy rifle, a bulbous and ungainly weapon that had fired a phased particle bolt in the forty-watt range about once every ten seconds, assuming the capacitors didn't fail and the accelerator didn't crack. It was a good idea to not fire it more than four or five times a row, and to hold the muzzle well clear of your body- the magnetics at the emitter quickly heated it to a few hundred degrees. This one lacked the ultrasonic stunner.

She opened the battery compartment, and slowly lowered it into the water. The wind and rain covered it's slight sizzle as it shorted out, components fusing. She had never trusted it- too advanced, too experimental, too temperamental. She started to sling the AK- she trusted Kalashnikovs, they might not be the most accurate thing in the world, but they always worked- when she hear Rogue's hiss. "Dump it."

Laura glared, then slowly lowered it into the water. All of them could read her expression, pouting without showing anything on her face. Alex whispered to her, "If you really need one, there are probably plenty around."

Rogue's teeth were clenched, painfully so. Had it really been necessary to kill one and not the other? She'd discuss it with Laura later, not where Logan could hear. Even if it was a loud conversation. She didn't want any killing if it could be avoided. She clicked hear speaker button twice and twice again. She got back three clicks. She reached into the pouch on her belt for one of the shuriken she'd purchased this morning- it wouldn't do much against a guard, but against a camera it would be quite effective.

_-neXt_

Logan clicked his mic switch three times. From where he and Kurt crouched, he could see where Remy was sitting. He was far from the only stumbling man who leaned against the buildings across the street. The HYDRA guards chased off the drunks who tried to lean against their fence.

He put his hand on Kurt's shoulder, then they were in the guard tower. It was a little cramped. Logan's punch caught the sentry there completely off guard. Kurt had to catch the man. It took only a few seconds to duct tape him. Kurt clicked his radio three times.

The next part was up to Gambit alone. He got up, stumbling to the fence. One of the two at the gate approached him, thinking him just another drunk. They argued, Remy resting his hand on the fence, charging it while the guard was getting a dose of charming drunk. Then the fence exploded.

The stunned guard before him took a steel toed boot to the groin. He folded like a sheet of rain soaked paper towel. Remy's staff was still collapsed when it came down on the back of the guard's head. The second one was still trying to figure out where their perimeter barrier had gone when Remy hit him with the staff.

He'd rather use knock out gas, but with the rain the range on the spray was limited, and they didn't want anyone getting knocked out if the wind pushed it back at an X-man. Or, whatever they were right now.

Remy threw himself flat at the first _zweet_, putting the guard he'd just dropped between him and the gunfire. He rolled the stunned man on his side, and if anyone asked it was to ziptie his wrists together, not to make a better shield while he evaluated the situation.

Then Kurt and Logan were among them. There were a few startled screams, but they ended almost as fast as the bullets had started flying.

Remy paused to look at the guard- it had been a waste of zipties. "Sorry 'bout dat." Then he ran to join his teammates. They were going after the long, low building- they had guessed it was the barracks, based on the grill and patio chairs gathered at one door. If it hadn't been from what Rogue had gotten from the gaurd her team was to have captured, she'd have given two clicks then three.

_-neXt_

Kitty quickly trussed the two guards they had just dropped. Alex put a bolt of energy into a security camera, while Rogue sank a shuriken into another down the hall. Two more of the sharpened steel plates weren't thrown, but were wedged into the hinge-side crack of the main door like pennies, tips biting into the wooden jam so they wouldn't fall out.

Laura was checking the room just off the entry. Security cameras- she could see the other team in the barracks. On one of the screens, there was a dark shape as Kurt ported in, then he was gone, replaced by the white mist of a pair of knock out canisters. The stuff worked fast, whatever it was- it wasn't like a crowd control agent, it put them down and out for about half an hour. She flicked her claws through the monitors, the electricity grounding through her and making her hair rise for a moment.

The four of them spoke with hand signs as they moved down the hall, clearing rooms as they went. Security cameras died on the theory they might go to other places than just that security office. Any external doors were wedged behind them. There was one room that was locked- Kitty gave Laura a hand through. One of three men in the room made it out; Rogue clotheslined him as he went through the door, then stomped on his sternum. He didn't protest as they bound him. Kitty destroyed the satellite uplink when she found it.

They also found a server room. Kitty unslung her pack, pulling out a small battery powered screwdriver, zipper locked anti-static bags, and a roll of packing tape. Alex stayed to guard her as she went after the racked drives- they would examine them in a safer place.

_-neXt_

Logan caught the hand holding the knife as the HYDRA soldier slashed at him. The X-man pulled his opponent forward, turning to throw the taller man over his hip. Usually, a throw like this involved letting go; instead, Logan swung him down with full force, face down. With both hands now around the wrist, he twisted and pulled hard as his boot stomped down onto the shoulder. There was a popping, ripping sound as the joint tore apart into shredded muscle and tendon and splinters of bone. A little more pressure ruined the elbow.

Logan was about to render his sparing partner unconscious when another leapt on his back. He let the weight pull him back, onto the ground. His head slammed into the jaw of the man now under him, closing the mouth without the usual sharp clack- the HYDRA agent had bitten almost through his tongue. Logan rolled aside, sparring a moment to drop the edge of his palm across the throat. There was a wet popping noise as the trachea was crushed. Logan ignored the writhing, gurgling body as he lunged forward at the next one.

He went low, knocking the man's legs from under him. Adamantium severed the achilles tendons.

He kept fighting, not looking back.

_-neXt_

"Armoured door, with a magnetic seal." Rogue's fingers pressed to the sign declaring that pure oxygen was in use on the other side.

Laura kicked the door open, severing the locking mechanism first. The room was dark, lit only with the glow of electronics. There were regular beeps and the sound of breathing. And the sound of a pistol slide being worked.

Wolverine's cub went low and right to clear the killing field that was the doorway, dashing towards the sound. There was a soft chuffing noise, then a cry of pain. The shapeless form in the middle of the lights was moving, writhing about like something from a horror movie, fumbling with something, swearing. There was no other life in the room- the air was thick with the smell of fear, sweat, rot and illness.

Laura snatched the pistol, tearing it from the grasp of the figure in the bed. The trigger guard of the silenced Soviet Makarov had been removed for a finger thicker than Kurts, but softer, with pallid, almost wet looking flesh. It and the four others stuck out from the hand like an inflated rubber glove, a parody of what a hand should be. The slide had become caught in a loose fold of skin and fat, not able to go back into battery- the flesh tore as the weapon was taken away.

Rogue choked a little at the smell as she entered the room. She could only stare for a moment. "Oh wow... Klaus wasn't kidding." She pressed the mic button on her belt. "Positive item, positive item. He's the size of a car."

_"What? Do you need backup?"_

The man in the bed was bald, with bad teeth. It was hard to tell how tall he was. He might have been naked, but it didn't matter, the rolls and folds covered anything young eyes shouldn't see other than the mound of living suet. He must have weighed close to fifteen hundred pounds, maybe more. Certainly not less- the platform looked like a cross between something from a garage, and a hospital bed. The voice was high pitched, but not feminine "Please... please... spare me and you'll be rewarded. Gold? Money? Drugs?"

Laura's voice was cold and menacing. "Information. And maybe I'll spare you."

"Ah'll let yah know." Rogue shook her head. They'd have to interrogate him here. She put her finger on the button again "Break. Kitty, Alex, once you have that computer information, we're on the upper floor, west end. Meet us here."

_"Roger." _The word was a hard grunt from Logan, with a scream in the background. Kitty's voice was softer when she echoed it.

The pale brown, almost amber eyes went wide when Laura stepped full into the light. "An X-23?" The next sound was wordless wail of horror. "You'll tell her I begged, you'll tell, you can't be bribed can you? Oh god... Madame Hydra is testing me, isn't she... And I..." The mass shook, blubbering and crying.

"Madame Hydra is dead. I killed her." Laura's voice was a snarl. Rogue stepped back a little at the tone.

"Oh god.. you are the first one." The words came out as a sob, then the tone changed, becoming both gloating and sniveling at the same time. "No. You didn't. She survived. She will always survive. She is immortal. She was ancient when... the gods were young." The figure paused every few words as the nasal cannula hissed softly, feeding him oxygen.

"And you are going to be at your end if you don't start talking." A pair of claws flashed out before his eyes. "Where are they? Where are the X-23s and the Creeds?"

"And why should I?"

Rogue's hand entered into the light, grabbing the air line, folding it. "Yah like talkin', Ah bet. Where are the X-23s? Or your boss?"

Laura took the digital recorder from her belt.

_-neXt_

Kurt looked around- there were seventeen survivors, all with the green HYDRA uniforms he'd been told to expect. But they were hanging up lockers. These schweinhund had all been in street cloths, they'd looked like anyone else. From the faces, they'd come from all over the world. Most of them were about as old as he was- unconscious, they looked normal. The ones that were awake had wild eyes, furiously biting at the duct tape.

"Logan, I think dat's all of dem." Remy unceremoniously dumped number 18 on top of some of his buddies.

"One last check, then we go help the girls."

Remy grinned, for two reasons. One, he strongly doubted the three young ladies needed help. Two, he didn't think Alex would appreciate being called a "girl".

_-neXt_

The voice was brittle and whispery, like old paper rubbing together. "Please... please... told you... every... thing..." There was a weeze as the oxygen returned.

Logan looked at the scene from the doorway. He wasn't sure _what_ Laura and Rogue were interrogating, but it was talking. It was putrid smelling blob of white, spilled over the floor- it was obvious that it had been on the table, but Laura had cut through two of the legs. He could see that it had fingers and one of them didn't look right.

"What did you do? Torture him?"

"Logan, please." Rogue held up her bare hand. "Ah didn't need to beat the information out of him."

Although Laura had threatened and berated him with a few slaps to the face, to scare him. Her theory was that it was hard to not think about something if you were trying not to.

_-neXt_

As the first colors of dawn blossomed in the east, _Blackbird_ rumbled down the short runway, the thrust directed for a very short take off. It was a close thing, but the jet sprang into the air at the last second, lifting her wheels daintily above the waves. She climbed quickly into the brightening sky, screaming for the clouds. The higher they got, the faster the sun rose.

Off to their starboard and inbound there was a smaller jet, just as dark skinned. It started to lean toward them, then lifted and twisted in an Immelman to stay with the X-men, taking up station at their three o'clock and about three quarters of a mile off their wing. The gear lowered, usually a sign of harmlessness.

Logan glanced at the dark form of the Gulfstream. "Anyone we know?"

"I don't think so." Kurt watched it. The only threat warnings were from the various private defenses on the island behind them. Their new wingman wasn't entirely stock either- he slewed one of the cameras onto it, to get a few pictures. Those engine nozzles looked like they came off an F-22, and there was a bulge on the top that looked like it was for inflight refueling. After a few minutes in silence, the small jet waggled its wings and flickered its landing lights before turning back towards Madripoor. "Probably just another case of 'cool what is it'."

Logan growled softly as they banked slightly northward. "We need a lower profile jet."

**-Author's notes:**

Before anyone says anything about Rogue's shuriken, it is canon within the Evo'verse. Episode 2-5 _Beast of Bayville_, where we get to see Hank's true form for the first time, watch the Danger Room session(5:20-5:26 is the relevant bit if you watch it on youtube). She pulls something from her belt and throws it one of those balls Storm is manipulating. It appears to have a disk shape while in flight. From this we can assume that the Professor has at least in the past been willing to authorize throwing stars for Rogue on a tentative basis, and she can hit a 3-4" diameter, moving, aerial target (or had crazy luck).

Real world, you don't bother to hack a server if you are on site. You bring a hard case, powered screw driver, and a sharpie. Short of boobytrapping the case or rack, which means you might get your IT guy next time something goes wrong, the drives depend on being safe behind locked and guarded doors. IF I had to design an anti-tamper trap, it would be on a switch against a panel that would send a surge into the drives if it was opened without the right magnetic key applied to the outside of the panel, but the risks... nah, an angry midget on a bar stool with a shotgun is better security.

Oh, and _Blackbird_, meet _Magda._ You'll see each other again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Weapon neXt**  
by Ironraven, with editing/beta-reading by BabyBeaver

Sorry about the extended delay. The real world has been sucking much, and I had to actually make some pretty heavy changes to this to have it not get clunky, chunky and just downright junky.

So, I do have one request- I love people who favorite my work, and put alert requests on it, but... reviews? I know I'm loved, let me feel it. *chuckles* I know, I sound like I'm shilling, and I hate it when people write for reviews, but being able to read ya'll's words do help when I'm stuck.

_-neXt_

"So why aren't we going straight there?" Alex leaned down, setting the MFD between the pilots' seats to show short range radar augmented with thermal scanning- they didn't need it running in weather mode.

"We need time to think. To plan. We've been lucky so far." Laura's fingers were light on the controls. This was the first time they both had been at the controls of _Blackbird_. "Russia takes more than luck."

That was where the fat man's memories said HYDRA's current lab was located. He'd remembered a lot about the new crop of clone killers. There were at least four of each. They came and left by chartered aircraft, the ones having brought them there usually from former parts of the Soviet Union, or places that had been friendly to it. The real value had been that he'd brokered their operations, he'd made arrangements for them to assassinate targets in parts of Asian and Africa and the Pacific Rim, but he hadn't known anything about the Americas or Europe. He didn't even know who Dr Risman was.

He was utterly certain that Madam Hydra was still alive. Laura was just as certain she'd last seen the woman torn to ribbons by shrapnel.

The main reason they were headed for Georgia though was they needed to get cover paperwork. It wasn't like flying into the US or the EU where private aircraft weren't uncommon. Even after 9/11, an aircraft like the _Blackbird_ whose advanced nature was obvious didn't require much more paperwork than owning a more conventional corporate jet. Despite the brewing storm with the Ossetians, Georgia was a good jumping off place into Russia. It wasn't as loose and corrupt as some of the former republics of the Soviet Union, but it wasn't the Ukraine or the Baltic states. And with Georgia trying to get in the EU and already a member of NATO, there was no need for visas for Americans, Canadians, or Germans. The other option was China, which was a paperwork nightmare itself. They could have gone in stealthy, but that would have caused a diplomatic incident if they had been seen- the Professor has said 'low profile', and a complaint about a spyplane in Siberia going to the UN Security Council was _not_ 'low profile'.

Alex's eyes swept the dials and status readouts. He wasn't often in the front seats of any aircraft; unlike Scott, flying wasn't instinctive for him. He should have had gills- surfing, diving, swimming, boating, these were natural for Alex. Scott should have had wings, but at forty thousand feet and clear skies even without the autopilot Alex couldn't screw up too badly. "Laura, you can relax. We're only here in case the computer breaks."

Laura didn't look at him, or relax. She had learned basic flight earlier in the summer from Scott and Kurt, but she wasn't sure she was ready for the pilot's seat yet. What if she did something wrong, and everyone died. She didn't have her hands on the controls, but they were floating about half an inch away. She'd flown most of her life, but she was always a passenger. Like Logan, she kept the heads up display mostly turned off- she knew that Bobby and Kurt and others liked it on, but having everything vomited up on the windscreen bothered her. She'd set it to show only threats and where radar picked up turbulence.

Behind them, Rogue and Logan were looking at maps, she trying to locate a particular lake, while Logan was looking for good places to stash the jet that were within walking distance of the places that looked likely. Remy had his staff disassembled on a white cloth, cleaning and oiling the intricate mechanism. Kitty had completed her shopping list for when they landed in Tiblisi; she snored softly as Kurt rested his cheek on her shoulder, drooling just the slightest bit, his tail wrapped around her waist protectively.

_-neXt_

Logan left the Canadian consulate with a scowl. He'd gone there to do some research- getting into Russia had gotten easier over the past few years, but it would still take a week to get proper visas. He'd hoped it would be easier on the ground.

He didn't bother to look up as the young men fell into step beside him. "We do it my way now?"

Logan growled- forged visas were probably going to take a few days to get, but he had the languages and the mean while Remy had the eye and the instincts. "Yeah."

Trailing a little further behind, Kurt swallowed hard. His family had been on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain. He'd grown up with the knowledge that some one in a bad suit and sunglasses could appear at any second, asking for papers. Or anything else. That's why his fosterparents had lived as far from anything as they could.

This had been their plan B. Try to find decently faked papers. With or without them, they could leave the country tomorrow evening- as a group, they agreed it would be unlikely that HYDRA, even if informed, would be able to fully cover their tracks in less than 48 hours after they had left Madripoor.

If they were careful, the Russian air defenses wouldn't see them. They'd be tight on fuel, but if they did it right, they'd be able to land in Alaska or maybe Japan on the way out. That was assuming the whole thing wasn't a wild goose chase.

They were going towards a part of town that the travel guide had simply described as 'someplace tourists should avoid'.

_-neXt_

Kitty had gone hunting for computer components almost as soon as they landed, some of them pretty specific, but what she needed was sold all over the world. In a few hours, she had the drives they'd taken from HYDRA plugged into a box that simulated being what she called a "raid array". (Logan had asked if it was a special hacker thing- Kitty had giggled.) In reality, it was a slave living in a virtual world she controlled from her laptop and had connected to a hasty network.

It took a few hours, but once she was into the unencrypted files, there was lot here. A lot of purchase records, some personnel data, a mountain of email, HYDRA recruiting videos. Those were disturbing, reminding her of a mix of jock rallies in high school, movies about the Nazis and terrorist videos. She pushed back from the table she'd taken over with a snort, "Worthless."

"What is?"

"The encrypted stuff." She waved her hand at the improvised rack. "Without the password, we could throw ten Cerebros at it for a century and it would, like, probably still be gibberish."

"This is bad enough." Laura was looking through sales records. "This mostly mostly weapons and sensors technology- American, British, French, German, Russian, Israeli, Chinese, South African, they are dealing with everyone."

"How bad?" Alex was reading people's email. HYDRA apparently didn't do spam, but they were in communication with radical religious and race hate groups all over the world.

Laura glanced back up to the one that had concerned her the most. "Tritium, forty liters, four years old, Indian origin. Sold to someone in Khaurtom, along with krytron switches, shielded microcontrollers, and polonium-210, four kilograms."She looked up at her friends. At least she'd been paying attention in Magnus' lectures on what Mr McCoy had described on 'misapplied mad science'. "These are parts for a simple H-bomb. And they _sold_ it."

That meant HYDRA was either so crazy they didn't care, or they had enough for their own needs and could sell the surplus.

_-neXt_

"Come on Elf, hit me- the girls will freak if they see me with my nose like this." Logan growled- he'd been asking for three minutes.

"Logan, I'm not hitting you! Ask Remy." Kurt's back was stiff. He was not enjoying himself. He was with two of his closest friends, and even though they normally were a little chilly to eachother, they would both being smug.

The cajun shook his head. "Uh-uh! Logan, no 'fense mon ami, but we ain' close enough fo' me to break your nose and know you ain' gonna hit me back."

Logan rolled his eyes. One of the guys in the bar had put a chair right across his face. The problem with very fast healing was that sometimes things healed as they were, not as they should be, and right now his nose was a little lopsided. "Fine."

Logan walked up to a light pole. He looked around- just the two jokers were watching, no cameras. He took a deep breath and slammed his face into metal shaft. There was a muted clang and the pool of light danced in the night, again, twice more- he was rewarded with the wet pop and tears he was looking for that time. He pinched his nose, getting the cartilage lined up close enough for his body to figure it out. His bones might be adamantium, but his cartilage wasn't. He turned to Kurt and Remy, giving them an inquiring grunt.

"Close 'nough." Remy grinned. Logan grunted in response- at least now he could breathe through both nostrils, last time it had healed with only one.

Kurt wouldn't dignify it with a response. It wasn't his fault that they'd been in that brawl. He'd tried to keep them out of it. He wanted to leave, but Remy had been insulted when someone accused him having improper relations with a pig. It had gone down hill from there. Very far down the hill. At least Logan had left his claws sheathed.

Kurt reached into his pocket, offering Logan a disposable clean up wipe for the blood on his face. There wasn't much they could do about the shirt, but it was a black tshirt, it wouldn't really show. Kurt didn't shake his head when Logan thanked him.

They made their way back to the hotel by the airport. It was in a place where they could watch _Blackbird_. It was nearly three in the morning.

They found Rogue in the lobby. She was watching the door while she sat stiffly in an overstuffed armchair. Copies of English and American newspapers were on the table in front of her. Her voice was a low, angry purr. "So."

"We couldn't find it."

Rogue nodded. _Plan C, sneak into Russia._ She pulled herself to her feet. She had been waiting for them to call- they had gone to the Canadian embassy before noon. Kitty had gotten worried shortly before sunset. Rogue had tried to contact them over the comms at midnight. An hour ago, she'd ordered Laura to stand down and go to bed rather than going into the city and looking for them the hard way. "Kurt, you're limping. What did you do?"

He hadn't gotten his tail out from under a boot in time when the fighting started. Not broken, but bruised- again.

"Cheri, your brother, it wasn his fault." Remy smiled, the special one filled with charm. "A very rude man... He called you a pig. Remy could not let that stand. Kurt and Logan tried to stop me. Then his friends-." He shrugged, cocking his head to one side.

"Really." With a voice that was almost cold enough to make liquid air, Rogue crossed her arms. She could see Remy's lip was split, and blood had rubbed from Logan's tshirt to his skin. She could also smell the vodka. She was annoyed with the whole bunch of them. "Upstairs. Now."

"Rogue, we-"

"Don't care, Logan."

_-neXt_

They had crossed from Georgia to Azerbaijan in the late afternoon, racing the beginning of darkness. They had informed the Azerbaijanis that they were flying through into Kazakhstan by short range radio, with the intent to go to village in the mountains for 'academic cultural research'. They had filed the same plan with the Kazakhstanis by satellite phone. They hadn't bothered to tell the villagers

Kazakhstan is a large country. With a lot of very tall mountains which would create blind spots in the radar. It was going into one of those blind spots that they dropped altitude, moving like they had every intent to land at the village's local field.

Logan reached up from the pilot's seat flipped the covers from a series of switches and then the switches themselves. They turned off the radar transponders- they read radar signals that hit the aircraft, and then sent appropriate responses to spoof military search radars and to tell civilian traffic control radars follow them by sending out their identification codes. Those ten switches were highly illegal any place where there was a real government. The skin and bones of _Blackbird-1_ were made to absorb radio waves, everything from the scatter from a microwave oven to cell phones. They had become a hole in the sky, swallowing all but a fraction of a percent of the electromagnetics that hit them- they had the radar cross section of a bumble bee. A skinny one.

In his seat, Kurt moved the stops on the throttles to keep them below the speed of sound- a shockwave from a sonic boom could be seen on some radars, and could be heard for miles. It also kept the engines cooler- they were still hot, they couldn't have thermal black hole system like on _Velocity_ if they were going to push the jet through the sky, but there were other things built into the jets to minimize the thermal signature. He also killed all of their running lights, and most of the cockpit lights. "Vhe are dark, Logan."

So long as they avoided population centers, air ports, rain, and mountains, they could only be found three ways- a military patrol that got very lucky, or by following the blank spot they were making for radio transmissions, but that kind of sensor network was expensive and not very mobile. They had a good idea where those would be, and unless someone was following the dropped cell phone calls it was unlikely. The radar wasn't transmitting, but it was set to recieve. They'd get hints of radar to avoid long before it could detect them.

The third way was if they ran over something that could detect the radar altimeter's signal, but it was only a few millimeters wide when it got back to the aircraft. "Setting AGL to three hundred meters. Hang onto your lunch!"

Logan set the autopilot's switch from off, through on, to 'special'. They were going to go nape of the earth all the way to the steppes, to be sure they were good and lost. Despite having been reassured that the seven computers couldn't all fail, Logan wasn't planning on resting for a second until they were over the steppes and climbing for their cruising altitude. They'd tried the system in the Canadian Rockies, and even he'd lost his lunch, which is why he hadn't eaten anything today.

Kurt's eyes were on the thermal imaging that the computer was using to see if there was anything that had to be flown over or dodged. Already he could feel his stomach's displeasure with the roller coaster ride; he would be praying the entire time.

Rogue was looking at more aerial photos and maps, but these had been stored to the onboard computer. They had turned off all of their communications devices and removed the batteries from all of those they could. She had it narrowed down to two lakes at this point, and had the computer creating artificial terrainscapes based on the topographical maps and satellite photos, trying to be match what she still could remember from the fat man's mind- she hadn't found his name, something she found more than a little creepy, but it was far from the worst thing she'd found in there.

Alex and Laura both slept at the back, silently, their fingers together on their shared arm rest, as _Blackbird_ hurled herself up and down, frantically trying to escape an electromagnetic boogeyman that probably wasn't there, but could bring their night to a screaming halt.

_-neXt_

"That's it, that's IT!" Rogue pointed down at a scar in forest, a short airfield and a few prefab buildings, with a large, bunker like structure going into a hillside.

Logan nodded. " 'Bout time." He'd picked a clearing about 14 miles away, on the other side of a ridgeline. They'd be able to land and then walk in. As it was, they were going to have to drop below the horizon and come back in just off the deck. There was the visual risk if anyone was on the ridge; not for the first time, he was wishing he'd brought a telepath or empath. Danielle was an expert with her bow, she could put an arrow into a quarter at forty yards, and her ability to sense others and trigger their fears might have been useful. Jean would have been great, but she was too important as part of the backup plan if this went wrong. Charles or Betsy each had their own strengths, but what promised to be a flat out combat mission was no place for them, despite how well they'd adapted to their disabilities. So no telepaths.

"Rogue, Remy, make sure the packs are ready"

_-neXt_

Laura had insisted that they eat cold rations once they were on the ground when they asked her what she'd be able to smell. She hadn't been fond of the idea either, but she and Logan would have been able to smell a fire or hot food for a few miles in forest like this. She had relented about the bug spray- she could smell it at a quarter mile. The mosquito bites didn't bother her or Logan too much, but the insects were a living, chunky fog from the moment they'd left _Blackbird_. They could have been debilitating, even with headnets. Rogue had slathered it on heavily- she didn't need it, but she wanted it. When mosquitoes landed on her, they died instantly, and she had what she called "buggy" thoughts. She'd joked that with this many, she'd turn into a vampire, but she hadn't been able to hide the shutter when she first noticed the ring of dead insects around where she was standing.

They had only brought five sleeping bags- two people would be on watch at all times. Kurt was carrying his medic's backpack, while Remy carried it's twin. Kitty and Laura both had packs of electronics. Logan, Rogue and Alex carried their climbing gear. Everyone had night vision and armour. Even Logan had dropped his canteen in favor of a bladder- it might not be as strong, but it didn't slosh as much.

Logan looked around at the kids, sleeping lightly in the bivy shelters over their sleeping bags. They could have made the full fourteen miles in a day even in country like this, but they'd moved slowly, making sure they weren't being followed. He hadn't bothered with bringing big cameras, but they had little ones- this had become as much an intelligence gathering mission as it was one of search and destroy. HYDRA still lived, they needed to know more. He'd made the mistake thinking they were gone once before.

"Logan?" Alex's voice was a whisper. At Logan's soft grunt, the young man glanced around before asking, "Are you worried?"

Logan could smell the nervousness on him. On all of them. He wouldn't tell Laura that she smelled simply afraid, it would make her doubt herself. He was scared himself. He knew that the _only_ reason he'd been able to stop X-23 that first night was because the part of her that had become Laura had let him. This many Lauras and Creeds might beat him. But he was mostly concerned about the ones who couldn't regenerate. He was always worried when the students were in danger- sometimes the way he showed it was by shouting and growling and being an ass. The longer he was at the Institute, the more he cared, and didn't want the kids ending up like him. Logan knew what Charles had in mind with the Institute. He knew the analysis that Hank and Magnus and Charles had made of recent events and social trends, and he'd met the Professor's precognitive friend Walter a few times. It wasn't a matter of if a war came, but when and which side they'd find standing with them. Just like it was only a matter of time before a student died in one of these fights.

Logan, Charles and Magnus had all seen war. He looked at the dark blue and green gortex sleeping bag covers the kids were in. He blinked, seeing them as black rubber bags in an after image. He felt the flutters in his mind, flashing at images of bodies stacked like cord wood or thrown in pits, in and out of uniform, all ages, on at least four continents. He'd done the stacking, he could feel it in his bones; sometimes he'd lit the fire. He shook his head hard, chasing the demons from his mind.

Alex watched, a crawling sensation reaching up his spine, teasing his scalp with filthy fingers. He knew Logan had been elsewhere in his mind. Even though the Professor had checked and found not a single shred of empathic or telempathic ability, Alex felt like he'd been able to see something. The shadow of something bad.

Logan's voice was soft when he finally spoke. "No worse than normal." He watched the young man for a long, silent moment, taking in the the others with his peripheral vision. _I should have sent you home. All of you, damnit._ "You'll do fine, kid."

_-neXt_

Kurt looked up from the map they'd generated with a composite of the topographical data and the photos they'd taken during the approach. He'd thought the printer on _Blackbird_ was a waste of space for years, but not any more. "Jah, I should be able to bamf to here from the bunker."

Rogue nodded, fiddling with her watch to lock in the coordinates in the GPS' memory as others did the same. "Got it."

They packed the spare medical bag, and some of the electronics in a heavy, waterproof bag. The very first thing was modified emergency beacon like the kind found on aircraft and boats, but modified to work only with Cerebro. Pull the safety pin, twist the knob, and in three seconds the Professor's cellphone would have a call. The remaining X-men and the New Mutants would have _Blackbird-2 _homing in on the signal immediately.

Laura was attacking the ground with her claws to loosen it so they could bury it. The soil would be soft enough for any of them to pull the bag from under ground. They would leave a short length of rope sticking up to grab. No one said it, but even one handed or grabbing in the teeth, there would be enough to pull it up by. Leaving it here would cut their weight almost in half, so they could move faster. And if they dropped their packs, Kurt could get all but Logan and Laura here in one jump.

"Halfpint, you ok?"

"Yeah. Just a little nervous." Kitty wasn't comfortable with this part of it. They'd never done something like this before. They'd strung the nets on Blackbird, that wasn't that odd, but burying emergency gear half way there and walking for two days was. "This is just..."

"Mo' den anything we don' 'fore?" Remy grinned. " 'Dis is jus in case. When I was a thief, I always had two getaway cars. Never needed both, but I felt better."

"And when did you stop being a thief?"

"When I became a school teacher, Kitty."

Inside, Logan let out a sigh. If they could reassure each other and joke, then they were as ready as they could be. They hadn't been this ready even for Apocalypse- even Scott had been jumpy that day.. "Rogue, I want your team five minutes behind mine. We leave in three, I'll be on point. Alex and the school teacher behind me, then Kitty last."

_-neXt_

They'd swapped positions every half hour. That allowed the team that been trailing to go into the lead, and the former leader to wait a few minutes to ambush anyone following closely. If someone was significantly behind it might not be noticed, but considering the prey, a close attack was the real threat.

Rogue hadn't liked the idea of splitting team in half, most people who'd done that had names like 'Custer'. The spread was hard to maintain- it would have been impossible without Laura and Logan's noses. She and Kurt had gone to ground a few minutes ago at Laura's hand sign. They'd slowed to an almost dead crawl when they'd smelt the smoke that was following the river. Right now, she and her brother were watching the slightest movement of undergrowth.

The river had bent around a small crest. This close, Laura could smell the people on the other side of the hill. One smelt like Creed, the other like herself. And there was more than one of each voice. She moved slowly, on her knees and fingers. She knew that Rogue was expecting Logan to hurry when their tracks changed; Laura didn't. She'd have followed the pace of the tracks. Laura pushed herself up just a little to look over the crest of the ridge, and felt herself go pale.

There wasn't another X-23. There were at eight of them. And the Creed copies, there were eight of them. They were relaxing on a sandbar that thrust out into the river. It was a clothing optional beach. They were swimming, talking in at least six different languages, laughing, sometimes taking pieces of meat from over the small fire they'd built.

Laura's head was swimming. This wasn't happening. This was not happening. More of her, many copies. And for every one of them, a copy of Creed. There were even two, an X-23 and and one of the Creeds, who were... recreating, unashamedly. If anyone looked, they considered it a sporting event, shouting out bawdy encouragement. She felt her cheeks flush at one particular piece of advice offered in her voice, then blazed crimson as it was taken.

Her... and Creed... It was too horrifying to think about, but she couldn't look away.

With eyes wide, she slipped back and lizard crawled to where the others were.

"Laura? What did you see?" Rogue's voice was soft, barely more than a whisper. She'd heard the howl.

"There is more than one. A lot more. And Creeds."

Rogue and Kurt shared a look. They knew Laura, it took a lot to shake her. In fact, nothing shook her other than herself. They slowly crept up to where she had been, Laura bringing up the rear reluctantly. She'd seen enough to learn everything she needed to know tactically; emotionally, it was shocking and disorienting.

Kurt stared for a moment before calling on Mary in prayer, pressing his fingers to the medallions he wore under his tunic. Rogue shook her head, "That was so not what Ah was expecting."

Laura twisted a fraction of a second before the others at the sound of something behind them. This was what she'd been afraid of- she smelled like herself, as did their enemy.

The smaller figure had a beatific smile behind her energy rifle, her hand at the firing button for the underslung ultrasonic stunner. Laura recognized the HYDRA weapon instantly, but it was the face that stopped her from acting in that first critical second. The X-23 wore a tank top and cut off combat fatigues, her feet in combat boots. Her hair was cut short other than a long braid at the temple, while a copper band wrapped around her muscular upper arm. Laura's voice came from the stranger, filled with wonder. "Sister? First sister?"

The other figure was much taller and broader in the shoulders, with a huge grin. His jeans were tucked into high moccasins, while a necklace of fangs and claws rested on his bare chest. He wore his honey blond in a long, flowing mane bound at the nape of his neck, with a narrow, neat, braided beard. In his hands he carried a long barreled Kalashnikov, the squad support version, holding it casually in no direct menace to any one person but all of them. "Hands where we can see them, or the blue squirrel gets it first."

**Author's notes:**

Laura's shopping list is just a few of the parts that make an H-bomb go boom, but some of them are pretty common. Krytron switches are part of what makes the compression shell of certain nuke designs work. And photocopiers. Next time you xerox something, remember you are using something that can be used to build an H-bomb.

It should scare you.


	10. Chapter 10

**Weapon neXt  
**by Ironraven, with editing/beta-reading by BabyBeaver

That whole real world thing again... *makes rude gestures at the real world* So, what happens when the real world gets in the way? The Raven-ness concentrates. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle during operation, and secure all personal items in the compartments provided...

When we last left our heroes, they had been accosted by their prey.

_-neXt_

Laura became aware of her body after a period of time she couldn't measure. She had a slight headache and her mouth felt fuzzy. Actually, she felt fuzzy everywhere, inside the skin. She could also feel the increased aggressive urges left over from a fight-or-fight reaction that had been put on hold. That was the calling card of neural override disk, but she couldn't feel it's weight anymore.

The last thing she remembered was the warbling squeal of the stunner and Kurt doing down in a heap. He would have been the first target in her team; she actually was not for once the most dangerous one on her team. She'd jumped at her clone, then she was hit by the rifle, through the leg. She went down in a hard, her femur shattered. The last thing she remembered as she blacked out was Rogue's shout, mixing with Logan's bellow in the distance, then the sonics clubbed her down.

She listened. There was another heartbeat, but it didn't sound like the breathing of anyone she knew. There was no scent other than her own- one of her copies.

The idea made her angry, but also uncertain. She was Logan's clone, but she'd been the only one. She felt a stab of fear- if she wasn't the only one, maybe she wasn't as special as her teachers said she was. And if there was more than one of her, would Logan and the others care for her less? Would people try to say they were her sisters? Or if they were copies of her, her daughters? But it had only been a few years since her eggs had been harvested, she remembered many comments in the HYDRA lab about it taking too long to make her ready, only to have Dr. Risman remind them they were limits to how fast a human could grow.

Dr. Risman. Was she their 'mother' as well? Was it matricide? Laura knew that the Roman punishment for killing a parent was to be scourged, placed in a bag with animals, and thrown in the river to be torn apart by the beasts while they tried to escape. Wolverine's cub had wanted the others to stay home for that reason- she didn't want them to see the real Laura, she wanted them to see her as a person.

"Hello, first sister." It was Laura's voice. "You've been awake for the past eighty-four point seven seconds. You cannot hide it from me."

Laura's eyes popped open. It wasn't the one who had captured her. This X-23 wore her hair short enough to bare the nape of her neck, and had a choker of bones- they looked like they had been the long ones from the wings of birds before being polished. The room Laura lay in was small but not significantly so- about three meters by four, with a small alcove off to the side that had a curtain for privacy. There was a small table, a chair. It was spartan, but not horribly so. The sheets on the bed were clean, but cheap, utilitarian. Her boots and clothes were on the table, but the belt and small pack that had contained her night vision, compass, camera and explosives was missing. They had left her her watch, of all things. "I assume you intent to either interrogate or recruit me."

The other girl smiled- at least she didn't' giggle. "And which is more likely?"

"I believe you have given me quarters and my clothing in the attempt to show that we are not enemies. But you have captured me and my friends, and are holding us against our will." Laura sat up, crossing her arms. "I will not turn against my friends, nor shall I reveal the secrets of the X-men."

They would not recruit her. That was why the human part of her was glad her friends had come. She wouldn't betray them, or abandon them. If they were dead, they would be avenged. She could feel that fear twisting, wrapping about and containing a special rage.

This time she giggled. "Wow, that was a mouthful. I am Aubry, sister."

"Don't call me that. You are a copy."

"If I was, I would call you mother- I am not your child; I am your twin. Or would be, if there were only two of us." Aubry leaned back in the chair, lazily gesturing towards the clothing. "You will find we removed your tools and communications devices. If you wish to get dressed you may, but you'll find we are not bound by the inhibitions of other people. Although you feel more comfortable around the S-4s if you are dressed."

"S-4s- the Sabertooth clones." Laura knew the history of her own designation. "It took only four attempts to make a viable copy of Victor Creed?"

"Yes, his genetics are simpler than those of Weapon X's." Aubry smiled, almost shyly- this was an backward question in her culture. "Have you taken your own designation, sister?"

"I am desi-" _NO! I have name!_ "I am Laura."

Aubry's eyes went wide, then bowed her head. "You... you are the first. It is your right to be so bold." Laura's face was marked with confusion. "You- we decided that none of could take a name that starts with 'L'- we were are not worthy of being like Logan. The boys likewise didn't take a name starting with 'V'."

"Because you are not originals, you are copies." Laura had taken this name because it had felt right to honor her prototype in with alliteration, and 'Laura Logan' had a certain undefinable quality to it, like finding the mathematical meaning of a bird's call. She had been unaware that it was the name of a newswoman, but there was a kind of psychological and social camouflage there.

And she'd never been 'Laura' on a mission.

"Laura... Sister... We don't know why you left us, but we understand it was a test. We have tried hard to exceed your record in our missions." Her body language was defiant. "We've created our own way of life. We have become the perfect weapons."

"Show me." If they were 'exceeding' her on missions, then they were truly dangerous.

_-neXt_

As soon as they'd left the quarters she'd been assigned, Laura was immediately confronted with her first S-4. His voice was soft, almost furry, as the towering blond man introduced himself as Zachary. They had picked their names. She also learned that she wasn't just X-23, but she was _the_ X-23, specifically X-23-0. Aubry was X-23b-1, Zachary S-4-1. And they were a couple.

Hers was one of several sets in the same passageway. There weren't as many as she expected based on the number of them, but the answer was easier than she expected- they were all couples.

They had always been couples- it was suggested that if one of them made a mistake, their partner was disciplined. They had taken steps to mark themselves individually. One of the X-23s had bleached her hair, they all wore their differently or had a distinctive piece of jewelry. The S-4s were harder to tell apart as they all wore their hair long, but each one wore necklace of fangs and claws, no two the same, and a few had the starts of beards or mustaches.

They cooked their own food, and ate together. Trained together. The kitchen was a kitchen, but Laura was impressed by their training facilities. She asked about their chores when she saw an X-24 and an S-4 (they introduced themselves Jian and Oscar) in the kitchen- they dealt with it much the same way the Institute did, by rotating chores.

They had everything but a Danger Room, but they made up for it with some very complex weapons ranges that included reactive targets. Laura watched on the overhead catwalk as two couples hunted each other, both of each pair blindfolded, one with heavy earmuffs, the other gagged into silence. She could smell a medicated salve from them- it was probably masking their senses of smell. It was a peculiar form of hide and seek, with each pair communicating by touch.

When the two teams found each other, it devolved into an intricate dance of claw and fang. No quarter was asked; no mercy was shown. They beat and cut each other to bleeding piles in a few seconds and lay there laughing through their panting breath as their bodies healed.

It fascinated Laura. It was not unlike how she and Logan had trained a very few times- they'd been concerned the others would find out and would be disturbed by it. They'd stopped after she'd started school with the others. People didn't try to kill each other for training, much less fun. The laughter had told her what it was for these... others. It disturbed her.

She'd gone to Coney Island with the others earlier in the summer. She'd blushed at her own reaction to the 'fun house'- she still felt ashamed at her almost destructive reaction to a mannequin that had jumped from a wall, screaming shrilly. It was only that Alex and the others with her hadn't reacted as if it was hostile kept her from putting her claws into it, and there had been no 'civilians' around to witness her mistake. But what this place reminded her of was the distorting mirrors. This was a warped reflection, not only of her own upbringing, but also the Institute.

That made her feel further unwell. She thought of the touch of the Professor's mind, a sensation like dappled sunlight filtering through breeze teased leaves. It gave her strength. "Who taught you?"

"We learned the ways of the hunter from Gospodin Kravinoff." Seeing her prototype frown at the unfamiliar name, Aubry expanded. "He was our favorite instructor- he taught us to fight, to survive and helped us pick our names."

_-neXt_

"I'm not hungry." The food smelled basic but good- a clear broth that was full bodied and sparkling with drops of fat but with too many flavors in its scent to know it origins; some kind of pork, probably from wild boar, roasted on skewers not unlike her own claws with various vegetables; a kind of cabbage salad; and massive piles of a flat bread. She was glad her stomach didn't growl- it would have proven her a liar. She was hungry, but she wanted to find the others. "There were doors that you did not open for me."

Aubry sighed. "You want to meet everyone?"

Laura looked at the 18 young killers. They had been eating, and had only stopped at First Sister's statement. They looked back at her.

"If there are others, yes." Laura nodded in her coldest and most imperial manner. It was something she'd learned from Storm. "I wish to see what changes were made to _my_ genetics."

"There is one other. He is... unstable. He is evidence that we are supposed to be mated."

"Show me."

-next

The door opened slowly, and closed even slower behind them. They were in a tiny room of metal walls. Only when the door behind them sealed itself did the wall before them begin to move.

"You fear my friends that much?"

"No. These cells are for us, if we needed to be.. contained." Aubry looked at her. "Your friends are not dangerous to us while they sleep."

They had gone through a series of heavy doors, forming a quadruple airlock. Each one was a more than a foot thick, laminated steel with adamantium lacing, a duller, almost violet alloy, and what looked like some kind of ceramic. Each one set back in the wall several feet, and then there was the click-buzz of a relay, signaling the use of an electromagnet to help keep it closed.

There was a row of barred cells along the left wall, but the hallway continued for a cell's width. As she got closer, Laura could see it had been rebuilt, and fairly recently. Aubry nodded. "Katrina and Nathaniel did the work. I'll wait here."

Laura was impressed. This much security, there must have been one that had malfunctioned quite badly. She gasped when she looked in through the tiny slit of a window.

The young man was as short as she was, and had a familiar shock of dark hair. More of it matted his powerful, naked chest. He was pumping out push ups at an impressive rate, balanced on three fingers from each hand. "Two thousand."

He pushed himself back, almost jumping without his feet moving, to crouch on his toes. "So, come to admi-" His eyes were mismatched- one blue, one green. The left ear was a little pointier than it should have been. The beard wasn't as thick and dark yet. He was young. He was handsome in a primal kind of way.

He was her age. The face was all wrong, but it was completely right. The one they had locked up like a rabid beast was a proper copy of Logan. Her brother. His voice didn't have the gravely quality, but it was getting there.

"You are the first one." Laura nodded. She didn't flinch when he sprung at the door, his hands slamming into the heavy metal. "My sister. They told me you were dead, sister. My beautiful sister. I've dreamed of you, Eve."

"My name is Laura."

"No. No." He shook his head. "No, your name is Eve. I am Adam. And we were made to be together, to be the first of this new race."

Laura blinked. She was familiar enough with the story- with her friends, she had to be. He was still talking, repeating himself.

"Eve, Eve, the devil made copies of Eve to tempt me, to tease Adam. And others, to fool the world, to enslave it. I can't let them get out..."

Laura could see into his cell. She was surprised by how un-prison like it was. He wasn't here as punishment, he was here for their safety and his. It differed little from the room she'd been assigned. There were stacks of books in several languages- she could recognize some as having Cyrillic, Greek and Arabic characters. It took her a few minutes to realize that they all seemed to be religious books, mostly the Abrhamic religions. But more disturbing were the drawings. They seemed to be charcoal, some on paper, some on the walls. Of Adam and an X-23 in idealized jungle, another of them fighting demonic figures but with the wounds of the crucified.

There was one of what she could only assume was his devil. The figure looked startlingly like Professor Xavier. She could only stare at it through the slitted window. This devil had minions. A one eyed minotaur with a beam of light coming from it's eye. A female succubus. A half feline creature, and a witch with a pale streak in her hair. The start of a tailed figure with a sword. The picture was still incomplete. She felt sick. This thing was drawing her family...

"You've seen them, haven't you Eve. The Holy Ghost came to me, gave me this image. The Old Man and his servants. He told me you were soon to come."

"He came to less than six months ago, didn't he."

"Yes! Yes!"

Laura felt cold in her bones. She shivered, and looked away from from the painting.

"You've seen them, Eve. They tried to seduce you, to change you. To make you one of them." His hand shot through the slit, grabbing hers. "But you are here now. I'll protect you, save you. My sister, my mate. I was made from your blood, to protect you, to be-"

With a snarl, Laura pulled her hand away, stepping back. She'd seen insanity in several forms, but this was the worst thing she'd ever seen. She walked away, ignoring his rantings. She didn't stop, but walked past Aubry as the sounds lost their words, becoming barely human howls.

As the last door closed behind them, Laura sagged back against it. "How long has he been like that?"

"Always. He was too unstable to let into the field, he was never right." Aubry shrugged. Adam was insane, but they couldn't put him down. Besides, he'd been too useful as a test for certain augmentation techniques. "Actually, he got better a few months ago, although he's been obsessed with you for much longer."

_-neXt_

After the meeting with the X-24, Laura hadn't felt like eating. The ravings and rantings had been bad enough. The delusion had made it worse. But the sketch had robbed her of any appetite she had.

The Professor had asked them to watch for the phrase 'Old Man', especially if it was used to describe him. She didn't know everything, but she suspected that it involved the nightmares that had possessed the Institute. She remembered the shambles that the library had been reduced to. She still don't know if the... entity, for lack of a better word, had gotten into her mind.

She slept fitfully, tossing and turning and waking often. She'd ask where Adam learned his theology- it was because of a mission that had almost gone wrong because she'd been unaware of the proper protocol for a Greek Orthodox mass. The copies had all been familiarized with the major religious and their trappings, but Adam had taken it further. It had been six years ago. But her mission had been five years ago. And the X-23b's were all taller than her by about three inches taller, and they felt older- she was bothered by the 'b' designation, she didn't know how they differed from her.

When she'd had enough of questions she couldn't answer yet, she tried to go look about, quietly, without one of her clones in tow. They'd locked the door. She was pretty sure she could cut through it, but she was no closer to knowing where the others' hostages were, and it would undoubtedly make it harder to find them if she broke out. She settled for doing calisthenics until she was if not tired, at least relaxed.

Shortly before six, her door opened. She found the others gathered at the big table, chatting, or preparing breakfast.

"So why haven't I met the 'B' and 'Y' clones?"

"Oh, Brianna and Yuri." Franchesca smiled wickedly. "They are upstairs, she's about to explode."

"Not explode, sister, give birth."

Laura had just taken a drink of tea, brewed strong and sweet in the Russian style. It came out through her nose. She could not have heard that accurately. "Pregnant?"

"Yes. She should be due any time now. The Doctor is so proud, he was very excited when he found out that they had had their... accident?" William blushed. "He took them off missions immediately."

Laura looked at the oatmeal like porridge with shreds of meat in it. The idea of a copy of her doing _that_ with a copy of Sabertooth was gross enough, but being impregnated... "Will there be training after breakfast?" There were nods. "I think I'll train on an empty stomach."

_-neXt_

Laura pushed the plate away again. She'd seen enough- the walls were too thick for her to cut through them quickly and she couldn't put them all down long enough, fast enough for her to burrow through like a mole in metal. There were five doors that she'd seen that were locked, and she didn't know what lay behind them. It was like playing chess with yourself. You could win, but you lost to. She'd been out thought and out planned, if not by her copies, by their creators. She was in a cage designed to contain her, with herself for a jailer.

Time for some softer tactics. They were foreign to her in practice, but she'd studied them.

"You have not eaten for three meals."

"I do not _want_ to eat. I _want_ to know my friends are unharmed."

"They are-"

"No. I have only your words. I have not seen it with my own eyes." She glared at the crowd. The fear and rage twisted together in her chest, tightly. "You have told me I may have anything but my freedom- I want my friends."

"But the Doctor said they were to remain in containment."

Laura grabbed the plate, slamming it down on the table. It shattered into shards. She took a ragged breath, almost a sob. The others stared in horror- an outburst like that would have caused their mate to be disciplined when they were younger. "You were made in pairs. To make you complete." She didn't try to hide the pain in her eyes. "You said I was defective because I was alone, that is why I rebelled and why X-24 is mad. That is why the S-4s were made, so the X-23s would be complete. If so, I found my missing parts. Please, let me be whole."

The couples looked at each other, blinking. Zachary nodded. "She is right."

"You can't be serious!" Aubry looked into her mate's eyes. She didn't need to, she knew he was serious. _Boys- romantic fools!_

"She is being punished, for performing her mission. Her mate-".

"His name is Alex. Havoc." Laura's heart sped up a little. She and Alex could find the others. Then they could accomplish the mission. She didn't want to like her sisters. It hurt her head to look at her own face all the time. The adamantium meant they were going to be harder to kill; there were ways, but nothing she'd try with anyone she cared about within 20 miles.

"Aubry," Zachary took his lover's head in his hands, gently, like he was handling a bubble so fine it a feather's touch could shatter it. He bowed his head until their foreheads touched. "They took you away when I was wrong; they made you beat me when you were in error. You cried for my pain when we were alone even though the wounds were closed. Laura has done nothing but follow her mission- we can not take her from her Alexhavoc. You know how she aches; can you hate your sister so?"

Another of the X-23s, Laura needed a second to identify her as Christine, touched her shoulder. "You know you are wrong, Aubry. She must be afraid. Remember when we thought that Francesca and Talir were overdue? You-"

Aubry pushed them back, glaring. "FINE! Christine, come with me. We will return Laura's mate to her."

_-neXt_

They were in the central rotunda that served as a sparring space. The others were standing, watching the door that led to the containment unit, among other things. They were silent, but slightly tense. It almost felt like this was something they'd done before. There were three footsteps, one of them very familiar to Laura. She breathed in slightly, tasting one of her favorite scents. Then she saw him.

She didn't remember stepping forward to catch him. "Alex." Laura hugged him. He was intact. There was a red mark on his forehead, where a neural override disk had been stuck on him.

"The others?" Alex had been surprised for a second, seeing two Lauras, but it was clear they weren't after a moment. His was shorter. He had demanded to know where she was, and they had smiled and told him to dress. They'd removed his armour his sleep, and taken the knife off his belt, but other than that he had what he'd had when he surrendered. He had a small bruise on his arm, it looked like someone had drawn blood for some reason.

"I don't know. I was able to convince them that without you, I was imbalanced, incomplete." She glanced at the X-23s and S-4s that were watching.

Alex frowned. There was something he was missing, but it was the first time he'd ever had one of those disk things on his forehead. He was looking at the crowd. One of each. Pairs. He ducked his head down, whispering in her ear. "Do they think I'm like those cheap Sabertooth knockoffs?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Ok." He took a moment to kiss her, lightly. She blushed. The others stared. He was aware of everyone's eyes on him. "What? None of you kiss?"

Several heads were shaken. "Yes, but we don't know why. Why do you do that?"

Laura had never thought about it. Neither had Alex. He shrugged. "Because it is fun. Don't think anyone knows."

"But all pleasurable behavior originates with a survival instinct or the corruption there of." Katrina frowned in thought. Of all the X-23b's, she was perhaps the easiest one to confuse with Laura, with the same hair style. She was also the most studious one, their inventor and computer expert. Nathaniel, her mate, was their mechanic and tinkerer. "Perhaps it stems from a time where pre-humans kissed to determine the suitability of a mate in part by examining how the other had eaten. If they taste good, breed with them."

Her mate laughed and kissed her then gravely announced. "No breeding for you. Eww."

Zach cleared his throat to silence the laughter. "We can not yet relax. We have one more to bring out- stand to receive the castout."

Everyone spread out, facing the heavy door to the containment area.

"What's happening?"

"I don't know." Laura caught the back of Alex's shirt and backed up, pulling him along. There was a gap for them in the semi-circle. Xander and William stepped through the portal, closing it behind them.

"They sent you to get me, not two of them. Who else is in there?" He put his arm over her shoulders, leaning down to whisper his words. He knew it didn't matter, if these others were on par with Logan and Laura, he might as well have been shouting, but he couldn't speak with pheromones.

She put her arm around his waist, her other hand reaching up to rest on his. "It could be the others."

The door opened again. Alex felt a surge of relief, then realized the wrongness. The figure between the two Creed clones was short and stocky, but it wasn't Logan. Not yet. Not for a long time. "Jesus Christ! They cloned Logan!"

Adam shrugged off his escort, seeing only his Eve and this other male. A blond. Of course. The devil would be blond. "Blashphemer! Seducer! Release my mate from your thrall, I was made for her!"

Alex blinked. Laura stepped around, in front of Havok. She stage whispered to him, over her shoulder. "He means you."

"Eve! Why do you shield him."

"My name isn't Eve. Or X-23. It is Laura. And you are defective."

"God made me for you Eve. I will crush the Devil's servant and you shall see." Adam's claws popped out.

Alex was nervous. It was quickly becoming clear that the clone of Logan was quite mad. There were the claws, but Laura didn't have the adamantium bone lacing yet- these others shouldn't either. He could usually tag Laura sparing, her crazy little brother shouldn't be that much of a problem. "Bring it Shorty."

The assembled clones growled appreciatively.

Laura growled. "Stop it, all of you."

"Die monster!" Adam took a step forward.

"No!" Abigail stepped between them, her arms wide. "We must do this properly, with a duel. Alexhavok, you have been challenged. Do you accept?"

"Yes!"

"What? No, no he doesn't! Alex, are you crazy?" Laura was look up at him, her hand on his chest. "You don't have to prove anything to me, and if X-24 has a problem he can fight me!"

One of the S-4s shook his head."Laura, you are not challenged, you may not stop this unless you can make Adam withdraw his challenge."

"No, he won't settle for that." Alex could feel it in his bones. "What terms? What rules?"

"Rules?" Adam look scandalized. "Like what?"

"No broken bones, and no eye gouging?" Alex refused to look away from X-24s eyes. So this was what Logan would have looked like at his age. It was impressive, but lacked the refinement of the real thing. A century or two of experience was what made Logan a great warrior, not the claws and metal skeleton.

"You can't break my bones, and I don't want your eyes, usurper"

"Alex!" Her eyes were wide as he shrugged her hand off and stepped forward. "Alex Summers-Masters! Don't turn your back to on me! ALEX! " She wanted to jump on him, throw him to the ground. Knock him out if she had to. She tried to pull away from the hands that held her from behind. Even if X-24 didn't have the adamantium bones and claws, he was still and exact copy of the original Wolverine. Alex wasn't a hand-to-hand fighter, he worked at range. He wasn't as fast or as strong, he hadn't been trained since birth for this. "ALEX-," she she caught herself, he couldn't lose his will from her voice breaking. She felt others grab her, pull her back. "I love you."

Alex Summers paused to look over his shoulder, giving is girlfriend a smile. "I know." She could see it in his eyes. Havok's eyes hardened as he turned, ready to fight for his mate's honor.

"Careful Alex, don't let your guard down." Laura was seething inside. She knew she couldn't interfere, no one had to say anything, but she would if her brother was about to kill Alex. There was no way he would fall with her watching.

"Not going to." Alex dropped into a defensive crouch about a third of the way to the center of the open space in the crowd, his hands raised, as he'd been taught. Sparring with Scott, Laura, Logan and Betsy had made it into an instinct after over a year. He felt confident against most people; he knew that he had less skill than any of those four's toenail clippings. Adam seemed arrogant enough that this might be winnable, it would cause him to make mistakes. "No weapons or powers?"

"I don't need claws to break you into pieces. Do you really think a little jujitsu is going to save you?"

"Actually, I was planning on using a little jujitsu to knock you down, then my boots to knock you out." A part of Alex's brain wanted to know what he was doing. The rest of him was just sick of being pushed. Laura, he loved her, but she tried to protect him too much. So did Scott. He had survived the battle again Magnus on A-day. He'd survived Asteroid M. He had fought off a tiger shark bare handed. He was a survivor, he was a Summers. He was trained to to be a leader and a fighter. He was an X-man, one of the best, Scott, Laura and Logan had all told him he was.

So damnit, he would not back down. He wasn't going to hide behind his big brother. He wasn't going to hide behind his girlfriend.

"Alexhavok! Adam!" William called to them. "This a duel of honor. One of you will walk away, based on your skill alone."

"Silence. Or I'll deal with you after I stomp on this snake." The sole X-24 spat before letting out a bellow, dashing forward. Alex had studied well- sound couldn't hurt him, not sound like this. He tried to side step, but the shorter young man was too fast. Alex felt an electric sensation from his side, stealing his breath. A simple forearm strike had cracked or broken several ribs. Then he was on the ground.

He remembered Logan's teachings, automatically rolling _towards_ his attacker, into the inevitable stomp. Adam stumbled and fell as Alex not only knocked the only foot on the ground to the side but pulled down on the raised foot.

The clone of Wolverine twisted as he fell, punching his claws into where the interloper's chest should have been, finding only floor. Alex had twisted about on his butt, and brought both his boot heels into Adam's face, once, twice, three times.

It took Adam a few seconds to get his bearings. He spat out two teeth as he shook his head, shaggy black hair dancing. He growled again has he rushed again, anger and delusions replacing rational thought. There was no finesse- he was going to crush this annoying insect then Eve would be HIS!

Alex brought his hand down on either side of Adam's head, the edges of his hands hitting the collarbones, even as the other wrapped his arms around the X-man. Alex's words turned to screams as he felt the ribs that might only have been cracked break along with others. "Don't make me do thiarrrrggggg..."

"I cast you out, Lucifier!"

Alex heard the shnikt- it must have missed, but it was time to bring this to an end. If Adam wanted to play rough, so could he. He clutched the head between his palms tighter as he pumped energy down his arms. There was no comprehension in the mismatched eyes, only madness and rage. Then Alex's hands could hold no more.

The room flashed orange with screaming energy that turned to a thunder clap.

The two fell back, separating. Laura was at her boyfriend's side instantly, growling like an angry animal, her claws out as she studied Adam's fallen form. The air was thick with smell of ozone, hot metal, burnt flesh and blood. "Alex! Say something!"

"Hey babe." He kept his eyes closed. It hurt to breathe. He wiggled his toes and fingers- they were numb, but they were there. "Hes down?"

She growled softly as her brother twitched spastically. "Yes, don't move."

She carefully ran her fingers over Alex's body, watching his face for reaction as she traced his body- broken ribs, bruising, cuts. She carefully pulled off his boots and socks. His feet twitched as she touched them. "Shhh... don't move. Please Alex, your spine could be damaged."

He reached for her, pulling himself up. "Help me stand." He stumbled as he tried to get up, falling against her.

"Stupid." She caught him. "Lean on me, you fool. Thats it, one leg, and up..."

He sucked air in as a hiss- with their height difference, there was no way for her shoulder to not press against a broken rib. His vision was tunneled, and what he could see had green blobs of dancing light floating over it. There was a dull roaring noise in his ears. His clothing was singed and shredded from the effects of the energy blast. His watch had evaporated. His hands and arms were flash burned and speckled with tiny flecks of scorched metal. "Is Adam down?"

"Yes. Don't move, you are bleeding- he raked your ribs and stabbed your glutes."

Alex blinked. His ass didn't hurt, and he hadn't noticed the cuts over his ribs- in the moment his eyes were closed, he could see them again. Adam hadn't had claws of bone like he'd expected for some reason, but gleaming silver blades. A hair slower, and he'd be missing some parts. Lots of parts.

He understood why Laura had been so protective. It wasn't an incomplete Logan. It was the real thing, but without the honor or the compassion, and fortunately without the experience. But he didn't comprehend it in his mind, only in his heart. To believe and understand was enough- knowing would come later.

What he really knew was his hands were numb and it hurt to breath, the effort almost brought tears to his eyes. He dragged in a lung full, raising and clenching the hand not holding to Laura. He had about as much power as a sparrow's sneeze, but it did make a pretty glow."Does anyone else question that I am the mate of Laura, daughter of Wolverine?"

One of the Creeds squeaked out a 'no'.

"Good."

"Shh... Alex, I need to take care of your injuries." She glared at him. "Now." She turned them, half carrying, half dragging him towards the door.

It closed behind them, and still no one spoke for several minutes.

"That isn't going to grow back, is it?"

Adam, X-24, ended at the shoulders other than a stub of adamantium laced bone. The bone there shown like polished pewter, surrounded by charred and shredded meat. There were lumps and sprays of dull silver metal, melted and twisted by the effects of the energy, scattered on the floor and walls and ceiling. His feet had finally stopped thumping on the floor.

_-neXt_

The door behind them barely closed before Alex slumped completely. "Oh..."

"Alex! ALEX"

"It's ok. It's just really hard to breath." He gasped, panting behind his words.

"Shhh... stupid..." She got under him, picking him up in her arms.

He hung on wincing with every step, warm drops of pain dripping on her shoulder. "You love me for it."

"You could have died."

"Tim has promised to take care of you if I die. Not happening." His attempt to chuckle turned into a failed cough.

She sniffed at his joke. "If you die, you will make me cry." She shifted him slightly, balancing so she could kick the button beside the door to the quarters she'd been given. They'd been given. Alex was in too much pain to make a comment as she carried him over the threshold in her arms.

She lay him on the bed, the sheet immediately drinking in the blood from his cuts. She kissed his forehead before cutting the rest of his torn clothing off. They weren't quite intact enough to be called rags anyway.

He blushed. Here he was, the conquering hero, being stripped, and he was in too much pain to respond like he had thought he would at this moment. He had to focus mostly on his breathing, it took almost a minute to assemble that one thought. He listened as Laura tore bed sheets into bandages.

"I need you to sit up, so I can strap your ribs. Do you think you can do that?" She got her arm under him, the other hand on his hip as she helped him sit. He groaned faintly, his vision tunneling from fire in his torso. She started to wrap the strips of cloth around his body, pulling, twisting them tight. She was worried about a punctured lung, but his breathing sounded ok. There was no bubbling or gurgling when she pressed her ear to his back, listening to each lung. The heart was beating, a full, rich, _living_ sound. "Can you breath easier?"

"Yeah, but it still hurts."

"It's going to." She pressed a pad of wadded fabric over the slashes on the ribs, strapping them down over the compressing bands. The wounds really should get stitches- they weren't quite down to the bones, but they were long and they'd try to reopen every time he moved. She didn't have a needle- she'd use her own hair if she had to, but she lacked that one sliver of steel. "Can you roll over? I want to check your glutes."

He grunted as he complied, then breathed in. It wasn't so bad. The pain wasn't getting worse, if anything it was a little easier. From this angle, he couldn't see the look of relief on her face- if he wasn't in more pain, then nothing was probably punctured inside. But the bruising, she could feel it under her fingers as she was binding him. He'd urinate blood for a few days, and his liver and other organs might have been bruised. She knew he'd have breathed in some metal vapor- that couldn't be healthy, but was it worse than what they'd breathed while in Scott's welding classes? She didn't know. She'd never paid much attention to medical training until she'd come to the Institute, she'd obviously never needed it for herself.

She didn't' have tape- that was going to make it harder to keep the dressing on his left cheek in place. That would also probably need stitches- it had gone deep, but it was just a set of three punctures into the meat. It would leave an amazing scar, but if he could keep quiet and let it heal there would be no long term damage from what she knew of anatomy. Her biggest fear was that the claws had gone deep, but if there was a peritonitis danger, she didn't think he'd be walking, and he wasn't bleeding anyplace other than the cuts.

"Laura?"

"Hmm?"

"I think I'm going to take a nap." He turned his head, looking up at her. "Long day." His eyes closed, and his breathing slowed.

She froze. Silent tears filled her eyes. He couldn't... he didn't dare... if he was... she'd follow, somehow... Her fingers found his pulse. It was steady and strong.

She was suddenly, painfully aware of his blood on her skin, in her clothing. It wasn't much, but now that Alex was as safe as she could make him, it was the only thing in her senses. She grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it off with a yank, not caring as it tore. She peeled off the rest of her clothes, kicking them into the corner with his bloodied and burned ones. She cut the sheet from under him, tugging it out, adding it to the pile. As she moved, it felt like the bloody cloth was looking at her.

She refused to let herself cry as she went to the alcove that served as bathing facilities in this tiny room, wetting a towel, scrubbing herself until her skin was red. She bathed him as well, trying to avoid looking at the injuries as she cleaned the blood and grit from him. She slowly, gently pulled an inch long, lumpy and knotted sliver of metal from along his arm, shuddering as she threw it away.

It sang softly, vibrating when it hit the wall point first. It hung there.

She'd heard the stories about the Battle of Asteroid M from most of those who'd been there. It had been a nickel-iron meteor, nearly two hundred meters on the shortest axis. The Summers brothers had shattered it like an ice cube under a hammer, vaporizing much of it. The energy required would have been equal to millions of tons of TNT. The only way they could have survived was Jean putting up a shield, and Storm backing it up to control air pressure.

Even if Scott had done half the work, that still meant that Alex's hands were the equivalent of a nuclear weapon, and not a small one. She had no idea how much energy he'd used to kill Adam; it hadn't been full force or she'd be regenerating from a puddle of jelly after going through a wall, assuming she hadn't been blasted apart at the atomic level.

He had had the potential to be a killer. But it wasn't what she'd wanted for him. This was why she wanted him to stay behind. In a few days, at the most, it would sink in what he'd just experienced. She'd be there to hold him if needed, if he didn't blame her for making him a monster, a murder, if he still wanted her around.

If he still loved her, now that they were the same.

She was trembling as she pulled the blanket from under the bed, and put it over the both of them. She wrapped herself around him, holding tight. This could be the last time she could hold him. If he could forgive her for this, then he truly was a better person than she deserved. For now, he was her boyfriend. Her so very fragile weapon of mass destruction.

She kissed his cheek, and tried not to cry as she fell asleep.

She failed in her mission this one time.

**-Author's notes:**

First off, if anyone is grumpy about Adam being a religious wacko, I'm sorry you feel that way. He's actually inspired by a relative of mine, who fascination with his sister is not healthy. A great example of theory that family are the people you have to be nice to and can't shoot. How he made it through Basic is beyond me, but I'd put him on point, on foot, in a porky pig costume if he was under my command.

She has fought for him, many times, even if only in training. If Laura isn't careful, trying to protect Alex will cause her to lose him. But I think she'll eventually learn that he needs to be allowed to run free- for once I agree with Shakespeare about the whole love-and-lost thing.

The song that I think fits them well, as a couple, is Matthew Good's Weapon. If you don't know it, you might want to check out the lyrics. _Here by side, you are destruction... Here by my side, it's heaven._


	11. Chapter 11

**Weapon neXt  
**by Ironraven, with editing/beta-reading by BabyBeaver

Gah... stuck, stuck, stuckity sucks! So this is going to be short. What was going to be one chapter is now split- it's been six weeks since the last update to this.

-_neXt_

"OWWWWW!" Kitty howled in pain as she tried to push through the door, her body jerking.

Kurt caught her in his arms, holding her until the disk stopped punishing her. He'd tried to bampf as soon as he'd woken up and it had knocked him out for a couple minutes. He'd woken up to an young Sabertooth that spoke German with a flawless warning him that if he tried to hard, the shaped charge on his forehead would kill him. "Shh..."

Kitty closed her eyes, leaning against him for strength. She felt Rogue's gloved hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. She heard the sound of a snap opening, then a snort- Remy reaching for his staff, the holster empty as he reached for something to protect his friends should the copies try to attack when she was twitching. Kitty might have had some lingering doubts about the Cajun, but this mission had pretty much ended them. "I tried to phase- I'm used to not even thinking about it. I'm ok."

And she was. The pain had been almost crippling, but it had passed in only a second, maybe not even that long. It had been more the memory of the pain she'd felt. She didn't know how these disks worked, but whatever it did was like stomping right on the pain centers of their minds if they tried to use their powers.

The clones were watching, their expressions remote. They came in pairs, one of each. They were also keeping their distance. Kitty didn't think there was any reason for _them_ to be afraid of the X-men right now, but she wasn't complaining.

"Yah sure yah ok?" Rogue's disk was giving her a splitting headache, it was hard to concentrate. Remy hadn't tried to charge anything, but he'd gotten a headache like this when he'd tried his charm on the guards. Maybe it was just because her powers never _off_.

"Yeah, like I'm really ok." She squirmed in his arms. This was just weird- she'd been able to phase through things for so long that not be able to get free from a protective German was alien. She looked up into his golden eyes. "Really. Someone open the door."

Kurt winced at Kitty's weight on the sore spot on his arm. It almost looked like someone had taken a blood and tissue sample from him. Rogue and Remy had similar marks, but Kitty didn't. Considering where they were, a biological material sample made them all uncomfortable. They'd had a couple minutes to get organized before they were led off with very little explanation.

Rogue was in the middle of the mutant pileup, and closest to the door. She looked for a knob or a latch, then pressed the one, wide button set in the frame. There was the soft hiss of air bleeding out, then the door popped aside, pulling back on its track. There was a yelp of surprise from inside, sounding a lot like Alex, mixing with Laura's happier "Hey!"

"WHOAH!" Rogue punched the button, the door hissing close. She closed her eyes, shaking her head hard, feeling her hair bounce a little. She'd been growing it out, and it had started to curl at the ends.

"What is it? Are they OK?"

"Ohhhh... they... they are more than ok."

The door snapped open again, Laura trying to make herself decent with part of a blanket. "Sorry. Alex's clothes didn't survive the fight, and..."

Rogue looked again at the canvas bag that she'd dropped when Kitty had screamed. That was why there were clothes. "Logan is gonna kill ya, Alex."

_-neXt_

It was easy enough for Laura to get spare clothes for herself. Alex was a different story. He blushed thinking of the one time Laura had demonstrated that yes, he was as slim as she was, by wearing a pair of his pants. They'd been too long and they rode lower on her hips than she liked, but it had worked and he's liked how they looked on her. Once she'd trimmed the leg length, they were now her only pair of jeans. He was wearing a pair of fatigues from one of her sisters and... it was weird. In a very uncomfortable way. But it was better than being naked in front of the others- they'd all given him odd glances. He was bare chested, but that was fine, that was covered by the bandages.

Before he'd gotten dressed, Kurt had chased the girls out, wanting to check Alex's injuries- that was why they'd given him back his medical bag. Then the questions had started. Despite his many denials, neither Kurt nor Remy seemed to believe him when he said nothing had happened.

When she came back in, Rogue handed him something small, wrapped up in a peice of cloth. "They said these were for yah, said it was from the hunt. They called yah Alexhavok?"

He unwrapped them, looking at what was in his hand. It took him about ten seconds- teeth, two of them. Human teeth, one with a broken off root, bound with some kind of cord. He thought about the S-4s- they all wore necklaces of claws and fangs, animals they had killed. These were the two teeth he'd kicked out Adam's mouth, with wire wrapped around them and attached to a cord. That meant... "Oh god..."

He dashed for the bathroom alcove, skidding to a stop on his knees. For several minutes, he tried to throw up, but once the bile was up it was just dry heaves. He hugged the bowl, his sinuses and eyes burning and his ribs shrieking in protest, as he regained control of his body. He became aware of someone rubbing his back, telling him it was going to be OK. It was Kitty.

"Havok, are you ok?"

The use of his callsign made him blink, hard. He could hear deep breathing mixing with fearful whimpers. Not from him. From Laura. The younger girl was seated on the edge of the mattress, watching his reaction, fear in her eyes. Rogue was knelt half on the bed, hugging her. He could almost read what she was thinking- that she was going to lose him. That he'd abandon her.

He spit in the toilet one last time to clear the taste from his mouth, then rose to his feet on shaky knees. He was careful not to touch Rogue's bare skin as he wrapped himself around Laura. He nuzzled his nose into her hair, whispering to her that he loved her as she fought the desire to cry again, her body wracked by the fear of watching him fight a living, fanatical weapon. Each time she shuddered, the pain sank into him; he'd been selfish and stupid and he should have died. Alex wasn't afraid of his death as much as thought he might have been, but more for Laura. He'd been angry at her attempt to protect him, but he could see now why she'd wanted him to not fight, for all of them stay behind. She was afraid of being alone again. Alone was scary, he knew, but his loneliness was nothing like what she'd endured in a place very much like this.

Remy smirked has he watched his friends fold into a group hug around their youngest members. This was something Remy had previously wondered about- how was it that Xavier's X-men were able to beat Magneto's Acolytes? It wasn't training, it wasn't ruthlessness- the Acolytes weren't constrained by a concern for laws, and Sabertooth and Pyro were enthusiastic killers. It wasn't the technology, they were matched there. It might have been numbers, that was the answer he'd settled on early.

Now that he wasn't on the outside, he understood. Remy might not have had the devotion to the Professor that some of them had, but he much preferred taking orders from the bald man in the chair than Jean Luc. The Theive's Guild never hugged like this, the LeBeau's lairs and hiding places had never been home to him. But he was an X-man now. The Xavier Institute wasn't just a school, or a sanctuary, it was a home. A place were a family lived. His family, his home, his people.

He joined them. One hand on Rogue's back, an arm over Kurt's shoulder, the other hand on Alex's arm. He could see the doubt in Kitty's eyes- he smiled to her, reassuringly. He didn't insult her with his charming smile, just one of friendship. He could hear Laura's breathing change as she got control. She knew there were people watching over her, and she over them.

There was someone missing. And they were going to get him back. No one had to say anything.

-_neXt_

"You did what?" Aubry's eyes narrowed as her claws unsheathed in an angry reflex. "You let the X-men out?"

Thomas flinched but didn't look down. "You gave her her mate, but they were incomplete without their family."

"You fools! Please tell me that you idiots did not free Weapon X."

"Do we look stupid?" Thomas' fingertip poked Aubry in the forehead. "You might be the oldest, but you aren't in charge."

She swatted the hand away. "I lead, and I speak for us. That is our way."

"No, Laura is oldest."

Zachary growled, "No brother. She is incomplete. We are improved. She may lead herself, and Alexhavok, but she admits to not leading. She can not compete with us."

"There was a reason only one of her was made." Gretchen pushed her bleached blond hair back from her face. "She's slow, weak, breakable. Would you follow her? "

-_neXt_

"So here is what we know: We are in a prison complex, probably underground. Surrounded by trained assassins who would kill most of us without much thought. We don't have tools or communications other than our beacons, which probably won't make it through the walls. And we don't know where Logan is. What are our options?" Alex's voice was soft. He didn't see any cameras or microphones, but that probably meant they weren't hidden.

"I continue the mission." Laura's voice was quiet. "After I get all of you out of here."

"Nien. We are all in this. We'll find Logan."

"But you don't-"

Rogue snorted rudely. "Laura, we ain't leaving yah do this alone. Logan might have more reason to be close to yah, but he's pulled us all out of danger. He's the closest thing Ah evah had ta a 'dad'. Ah ain't leavin' the two of yah to do this by yourselves. Not this time, suga, Ah promised him."

"Petite, we all in 'dis. Wish we weren't, wish we knew were Logan was, wish we was back at de Mansion thinkin 'bout da next training session. But we ain't."

"But you aren't trained for this kind of thing."

Kitty shook her head. "You've been trained at this longer than I have, but other than Alex and Remy, we've been trained by your dad for six years." She ignored the little glare. "I'm not leaving him behind."

Each counter make Laura feel more desperate. She looked at Alex.

"Sorry babe, but I'm staying. The others might have fought Sabertooth, so they can deal with his sons, but I fought your dad's copy. And Magneto, twice. And I survived. Someone has to watch your back if you get pissed."

There was a sound from Laura, part a scream, part a growl. She wanted to stomp her foot; she'd never done that before, it looked stupid. "FINE! You'll all die and I'll miss you forever and I'll put flowers on your graves- are you happy? Is that what you want? Because I cant' do it, I can't watch any of you die!"

"No one is gonna die." She reached out to her friend the way Logan would have, to gently scratch behind her ear. "I'm in charge now- it's an order. No dieing."

Laura jerked her head away from Rogue's fingers angrily. "Don't say that Rogue. Don't. You can't promise that."

**Authors notes:  
**Remember Laura's nightmare? She now trapped in it. Not all dreams are prophesy, but the ones that are should be respected.

Sorry it was so short. The conclusion is coming. It will be... climactic.

_-neXt_

Adam shook himself awake. That seducer had actually beaten him. How was that even possible, if not with infernal intervention? He looked around. He was underground.

"Logan, you're back! So soon? You must miss me."

Adam looked at the source of the noise. It was a man. Sort of. He was grinning, and had short fur all over, like a mole or a mouse. Greying blond hair. How had he gotten there- Adam had just looked there and there was no door._ Must be a teleport. _

"Wait, you aren't Logan. You smell like him. You look like him. But... younger." The man's face scrunched up in confusion. He reached up to scratch at one of the small horns that poked through his hair. "You aren't ripe yet."

"Who are you?" Adam levered himself to his feet. Pain wasn't something that usually lingered, but this head ache felt like it was planning on camping in his skull for a while. Wonderful healing factor didn't help with stress headaches. It felt like his skull was melting and vibrating at the same time."And where are we?"

"That's what I'm wondering about you- Wolverines are big weasels, so I guess I'll just call you Weasel, how's that sound Bub?" The man chuckled at his own joke. "Now, you ARE in Hell, well, something like it. Actually, this is more the mail room. As for me, I'm known by many names- you may call me Azreal."

Adam frowned. "Azreal.. The angel of death?"

"Yes. Or Azezal, take your pick- it's all just a matter of accent." The man grinned. It wasn't a pretty smile, every tooth was a canine or incisor. "If you beat me, you can go back, little Weasel. If I win, well, I get to keep you."

Adam licked his lips nervously. Maybe he was in Hell. In which case.. no, he couldn't be forsaken. He was chosen. Yes, born not of man, not of woman. He was pure. Eve had betrayed him, but God would protect him- he was in the heart of the Enemy's territory. He was in place to strike, this is what he'd been trained for. He could be redeemed for his failure. Here he was, close enough to put his claws in Satan's minions, and then...

With a growl and shnikt, Adam lunged forward.

The demonic figure sighed as the sword sang through the air. "Nope, not Logan." He kicked the head aside. "He's not an idiot."


	12. Chapter 12

**X-Men Evolution: Weapon neXt**  
by Ironraven, edited and betaed by BabyBeaver

I know, I know, it's late. I've been busy and there was a lot of beating on this to get acceptable by _my_ standards. Sure, it was up to what I'd seen in Marvel when I stopped reading, but I demand better of me. And there is more to come which makes this snooze. Mwahahaha.

And please, shout at me if I screwed up names. *laughs*

_-neXt_**  
**

The plan was simple- get their trust, get information, and keep your eyes open for doors and Logan. Laura didn't think much of the "soft approach", but as Rogue had pointed out, until the neural override disks were removed, she and Alex were the only ones fully functional and there was no way to rule out that the termination charges couldn't be fired by remote. They would infiltrate this society, then escape.

"So, Ah gotta ask. Where did ya'll come from. Were yah born with host mothers, or in a fishtank, or what?" Rogue had volunteered to help in the kitchen after lunch- they figured if they fit in, they would be more likely to be shown the way out. She was just as bothered by how much the HYDRA facility reminded her of the Institute with the instructors away as Kitty and Kurt were.

"We came from the Lab."

"The Lab?" She looked confused.

"Yes, the Lab. Would you care to see it?"

"Won't we get in trouble?"

Francesca leaned closer, whispering. "Aubery would be mad if she caught us. Even more if the Doctor's people found us, but their security is not as good as it should be and they mostly use the machines."

_-neXt_

"Alexhavok, you do not wear your trophies."

Alex glanced up from the worktable where he was rebuilding one of the reactive targets- it was only fair, he bent it rather badly in their exercise. He had been shocked by how willing the S-4s and X-23bs had been to be injured. They just didn't care; Laura didn't mind if was a tactical necessity (in her opinion- it freaked him out), but some of them seemed to really enjoy it. It took Alex a moment to remember the S-4 with the mustache called himself Quincy. "My what?"

"The fangs of your kill, you should wear them." Quincy frowned- it wasn't good, it showed a lack of respect and pride. "They show you are a hunter."

Havok cleared his throat softly. "It wasn't a hunt."

Several of the S-4s grinned. "Then we must change that."

Alex blanched. "What do you mean?"

"We are running low on meat. Gospodin Kravinoff insisted we learned to hunt to live." They received bulk staples, canned goods and at times, fresh vegetables, not meat. "What do you say to boar?"

"Boar? Like.. pig?" Alex blinked. He'd never hunted before. He knew where meat came from, sure, he even fished, but... killing it himself? "Uh... Kitty and Kurt don't eat pork."

"Really? Then perhaps bear! Boar is a good hunt, they are fierce fighters, but bear is a great challenge- it hunts back."

"Bear? You want to kill a bear." Alex's voice was incredulous. He couldn't kill a bear. He couldn't kill in cold blood. He fished, sure, but fish aren't the same. A part of his mind whispered to him, _neither are psycho inlaws._

Quincy grinned. "I'm sorry- we do not have sabertooth tigers."

_-neXt_

Remy watched them training, worn out from what Victor's sons called a 'warm up'. He rubbed his cheek, still numb from the backhand he'd gotten before- nothing was broken, and they'd had mouth guards (even if they'd had to take on out of the packaging for him), but he also knew they were holding back.

Damn, they were fast. The S-4s were faster than Sabertooth, quite a bit faster. He'd lived with that mad dog for almost a year, seen him fighting the X-men and others. Remy remembered when Magnus had had them do something, and when they came back some gang bangers were messing with Victor's bike. None of the three even had time to reach for their weapons before Sabertooth's claws had torn the throats out of two of them, and then stabbed through the ribs of the third. Remy shook his head at the memory of Creed literally ripping that fool in half.

And these kids were stronger. The lightest of the weight bars that had been left set up was four hundred pounds. He'd watched a couple of the too-tall Lauras working with that one.

He felt someone lean against the wall next to him. She looked up at him. "Ahhh... Ezri, right?" There were only a few he could tell apart easily, but Remy had made a point to remember little clues like the jewelry and trophies.

"Oui, je suis Ezri." The X-23b's French had a perfect Parisian accent. Gambit had been raised speaking French, Creole and English alike, but this wasn't his French with it's Acadian roots and traces of Creole, this was the mother tongue like it was from the City of Lights. Her boyfriend, Uri, had spoken German just as well this morning as they introduced themselves. They were this little tribe's European experts.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" She nodded. "Why are you so tall?"

"Taller than Laura, that is what you mean, no?" Even in English, she kept a French accent, but she ranged it further south with a kiss form Algeria in it's shading. "It is because we are older."

_Older. But they were her clones. How did that work?_

_-neXt_

Aubry and Zachary stalked into the armoury. "Quincy, Thomas! What do you think you are doing?"

The two S4s and Alex looked up. The taller boys had been introducing him to the intricate details of how they hunted bear- hand to hand. Given Alex's size and lack of healing ability, they had given him a throwing javelin, a heavy thrusting spear with a crossgaurd, and something that was either a very short shortsword or an oversized dagger. He hadn't been sure of this, but there was no way to back out.

Tomas grinned. "We are getting a bear for Brianna and Yari's firstborn. Join us sister? Brother?"

There was a bestial growl deep in Aubry's chest. "You were going to take Alexhavoc with you?"

"Yes."

Two bounding steps brought Zachary to Alex, a hand edge striking the shaft of the heavy spear, snapping the aluminum shaft like it was dry pine. "Wrong."

Quicy shot a look at Thomas, one that clearly shouted 'what have you gotten me into now".

"Thomas, you and your mate challenged me twice in two days." Aubry slammed the S-4 into the wall like a badger attacking a cougar. "Do not think I don't know what you are thinking."

"I'm just taking him hunting. He is one of us now. And you are no longer the firstborn."

The backhand staggered Thomas with it's force, his head snapping about as he fell back against the wall, sliding down to his knees. Aubry had kept her claws in. "You and Gretchen stand with that traitor?"

Alex cleared his throat. "Excuse me? Who's a traitor?"

Zach's hand dropped onto Alex's shoulder like a meaty vise. "X-23. She betrayed her creators. She could have been the firstborn of a new world-"

"Don't tell him." Aubry's lips were pulled back in a snarling sneer. "It is unlikely his mutation includes mental augmentation similar to ours."

Alex glared. "I'm right here." Having Laura assume he needed protecting could be frustrating. Having her sister assume he was an idiot was just insulting. This bit of domestic violence reminded Alex just how alien they were.

Aubry stabbed her finger at Thomas and Quincy. "You two, go hunting. We need meat for a feast, and for a few days more. Go, now! I'll tell your mates where you are." The finger turned on Alex. "And you, Alexhavoc, you must learn the truth about your mate."

"What do you mean?" Alex squirmed, wincing as the meathook-sized paw pressed down on the flashburned shoulder.

"She means, we want you to read all of X-23's debriefs."

_-neXt_

Rogue had given up trying to keep track of the twists and turns. There were three possible reasons for this round about method. They were trying to keep her lost, they were hiding from someone, or there was no good way to get from the Lab from the quarters.

She paused when the others did. There was what looked like a warning sign, but it wasn't a caution sign she knew- it was a yellow triangle with a distorted hourglass, bigger on the bottom than on the top. She nodded at the symbol next to the door way. "What does that mean?"

Saif pulled the heavy, ship-like door open. "It means 'watch your step'. Or you'll have messed up toenails." Without further explanation, Frenchesca stepped through, quickly. She motioned across, her motions seeming oddly sped up. Saif gave a shake of his head, "Quick, for safety."

Rogue had seen several kinds of door that were a lot more than just holes in the wall. She took a breath- they did seem to be making a production of it, but she didn't think they were the kind who would play a prank- and swung through it. It might have hurt, but as she looked down, everything seemed to be there. The same warning sign was mounted by the door on this side to, but upside down. "What was that?"

As Saif came through, pulling the door after himself, Franchesca gave her meaningless explanation again. "Threshold. Come on, there are two more."

_-neXt_

Kitty blinked. "This is your network?"

If Katrina was supposed to be the best computer hacker they had, then the clones weren't ready for cyberterrorism and espionage. This network was only a few dozen computers and no connection to the outside. Kitty was an administrator, trained to defend not to attack, and it would be be nothing for her to compromise this.

It was a good thing, to- Kitty was starting to feel like there was no hope until she saw this sad little kludged together training rig.

Nathaniel rested his on his mate's shoulder comforting. "Don't ask me, I get confused with anything that doesn't have a gear ratio."

"It's ok, Nate." Katrina looked up at her mate. "Katherine, our computer systems are, if you'll pardon the expression, rubbish. We have no connection to the the outside world, synchronization issues on this side of the threshold. We get updates from the Lab, but the Doctor is afraid that putting us online would make us obvious. And most of us don't have the patience to deal with any kind of lag."

"But I stay current on theory, and when I am out in the world, I can practice." She gestured at a shelf of manuals and white papers in five different languages. Kat had insisted she be the one to show Kitty around she learned that the X-men had brought her equal from their own ranks. And both of them had giggled when they learned their mates were also mechanics, although where Kurt was practical, Nathaniel's talent was a bit more mad scientist-istic.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. You train with what you have." _Thank god for that!_ "You should be glad you don't have the outside world. When we get home, I'm going to have like a ton of work to do. Viruses, bootlegs, and no one ever remembers to do their updates. Geez, I don't even want to think about what Timmy is downloading." She blushed bright red. _Too late._

Kitty blinked at the sudden hug. She looked at Katrina. "What was that for?"

"You look like you need one."

Kitty didn't know how to respond. That was the kind of thing she'd use for an excuse for hugging a lot of unhuggable people over the years- Rogue, Hank, the Professor, Ray, even Logan. "Uh.. thanks."

"Kat? Do you want to ask her?"

_OK..._. "Ask me what, Katrina?"

"Well... we don't have another room. And all of you are in that one room." Kat stroked a hair from Kitty's face. "We were wondering, you know, if maybe you and Kurt wanted to join us... to share our bed."

It was the kiss on the cheek that did it. Kitty nearly jumped out of her boots. She pushed back on the X-23b's shoulders, backing away. "What? You mean, like, you know... Us... You. What? No. No, no thank you."

Shadowcat felt the twing in her head as the disk warned her. She really wanted to phase out, run away. She was just a little freaked out by this- if she was only half understanding it, then... Wow. Just... wow.

"I'm sorry, did we do wrong?"

_-neXt_

"I like how he drew Scott." Kurt looked at the mural. He really didn't like the implications. "Adam called his devil 'The Old Man', the same as the thing this spring."

"I know. That is why I asked if you could look at this." Laura was reading through the rambling notes that Adam had left behind. They were part manifesto, part insanity, and completely unsettling. "That and your theological perspective."

Kurt shook his head, his tail drooping. "X-24", he would not credit that madman with a name, "knew vhat we looked like." His tail flicked out, slapping at the almost perfect recreation of his own image. "How da hell could he know vhat! And vhy didn't he draw Storm unt Hank unt Logan?"

"He wouldn't have drawn Logan- they respect him too highly." She frowned at the drawing on the wall in silence, before she turned to stack of sketch pads. She shuffled through them quickly."Do you know if Hank or Storm ever had nightmares?"

"Nein, I don't think so. Nor Betsy or Magnus. Are you thinking vhat I think you're thinking?"

Laura looked up, a cold fury in her eyes. "Adam was operating in cooperation with whatever it was that was in Mansion. There are images of everyone who had a nightmare."

"Did he draw a picture of his 'holy ghost'?"

"Maybe. What should I look for?"

"I don't know, Laura. I just don't know."

_-neXt_

Alex closed the last of the folders. He'd skimmed most of it, there was only so much he could read about how Laura had been... trained. Abused. Tortured and twisted, her body, mind and soul. He'd read each of the post-mission debreifings more slowly. Each theft. Each killing.

And her medical file. He didn't understand all of it, but he would do his homework.

Despite all of it she wasn't a monster, no matter what she said. Unlike Aubry, whatever _she_ was.

_-neXt_

Rogue looked into the vat of goo. Inside floated a small child, probably about four years old. She'd seen pictures of a very young Kitty - it was a copy of her roommate. She swallowed hard. There were four more copies each in their own jar. There were others- a brown haired boy with bandaged eyes, another one broad in the shoulders and stocky; a blond girl and a redheaded one, each wearing what looked like smaller versions of Magnus' telepathy-dampening helmet. A black young man. A litter of red furred wolf girls. There were five of each. "Where did you get your genetic material?"

"You'd have to ask the Doctor."

Rogue didn't need to ask. She always half grumped that she and Kurt couldn't cut class when there was a blood drive in the gym. She hadn't been that serious about it, she hated needles, but when you are being surly and rebellious you have to stay true to form. Jean and Scott had both been three quarters of the way to their gallon pins when they'd been outed. One of the grounds for blocking donation quickly became being a mutant. Rogue had seen the bruise on her arm, and the matching ones on Kurt, Remy and Alex.

She felt her throat work and swallowed hard against the burn. Her jaw clenched tightly as she rubbed her arm. "Did you... Did..."

"The Doctor wanted it." Saif looked down, smiling at the tiny mutants under glass, running a claw tipped finger along it tenderly. He looked every bit like a proud and eager older brother. "He was very happy to meet you, genetically- he'd been wanting to study an adaptoid."

Rogue glanced over at that word. "Adaptoid, huh? Ah've been called worse." Her grin seemed bold enough, but it was hollow. She didn't like the idea of someone having a tissue sample of her, or of Kurt. Any of them. There was a lot of the tubes- she's seen more on the level below, rows of them. "How many are there here now?"

"The Doctor was able to make successful copies of twenty four mutants."

The number snapped Rogue's head around like the crack of a whip. Twenty four, five each that was one hundred and twenty, along with the X-23s and S-4s... that was a hell of a lot of mutants. "There aren't that many X-men. Who else do you have?"

"I don't know them all."

Oh, not the answer she was really looking forward to. "Are there more X-23s?"

Franchesca shook her head sadly. "Not yet. But if Brianna's child is all that we think it will be, then..."

Saif set his hand on her shoulder, gently. "Then the future is ours."

**Author's notes:  
**Great, psychotic clones who are breeding and are talking about the future. Talk of treason, ghosts from the past, and one hell of a proposition. A creepy-ass mad scientist lab without scientists and with lots and lots of copies to the count of five. And still no Logan. Uhm.. yeek?**  
**

And yes, I know my use of the term adaptoid might not be totally canonical, but it is the closest label I can find for her. And yes, Alex just got the data dump from hell. What else did he get?

Send the clone, those scary clones... Figure people might need a program:  
Aubry & Zachary; Brianna & Yari; Christina & William; Dorothy & Uri; Ezri & Tomas; Francesca & Saif; Gretchen & Ryan; Helen & Quincy; Ida & Paul; Jian & Oscar; Katrina & Nathaniel.

Yes, there is another Katrina in another story in another order of probability- for those who have read **Age of Wolverine** there may be a clue here as to who Scott's killer and who that Logan's mole is. Remember, time and space may change a great deal, but people only so much. Or I might be sending ya'll off on a wild goose chase. If you've got a theory, PM me or toss it in a review on **AoW_. _**

If your jaw the desk at any time during this... well, wait for the next chapter of neXt. You'll be shot out of a cannon.

_-neXt_

Logan groaned. He'd hangovers before, but this one felt like someone had shoved a cherry bomb up his nose then it lit off. He reached up to rub his forehead, and his fingers froze. What was-

"The last one blew up when you tried to take it off, Logan."

He recognized the shape- a neural override disk.

"It wasn't pretty, and my ears are still ringing."

He inhaled. The scent matched the voice. "Mystique."


	13. Chapter 13

**Weapon neXt**

by Ironraven.

Please note the rating. This is a teen story. It has been for a while. Ladies, gentlemen and variations there of, this is bit more hardcore than Evo ever was on TV. But this is no harder than Marvel has gone. If the acknowledgment that yes, people actually have sex bothers you, you might want to skip parts of this chapter. If bloodshed and gore and horror and cold blooded murder frighten you, you probably left a few chapters ago.

And if you aren't familiar with Laura's nightmare, then you should refresh your memory. You will want read They Never Trained Me For This (15-16), Spring Break, and TNTFT (17) before you get much further.

_-neXt_

Logan groaned. He'd hangovers before, but this one felt like someone had shoved a cherry bomb up his nose then it lit the fuse. He reached up to rub his forehead, and his fingers froze. What was-

"The last one blew up when you tried to take it off, Logan."

He recognized the shape- a neural override disk. Then he remembered, being bludgeoned down with a wave of sound as several flashbangs went off. . He'd woken up before for a moment, then more darkness.

"It wasn't pretty, and my ears are still ringing."

He inhaled. The scent matched the voice. "Mystique." He sat up slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a guest of HYDRA, same as you are." She was quiet. "They got me in Haifa, just after Apocalypse."

"'More than a year and a half, then." Logan wasn't going to trust anything she told him. It wasn't that he couldn't smell that she was lying- he'd never smelled her when he knew she was telling the truth. He couldn't compare it to anything. But she had been missing since A-day.

As he got used to the glare and the headache, he looked around. Cell, about six and half feet wide, maybe a little more than ten deep. The door was a heavy metal, it didn't draw heat away from his fingers. He moved about, stretching, joints popping. He found his jeans and the tshirt he'd been wearing folded by the door, along with a bottle of.. something under pressure but not carbonated... he opened it and sniffed- mineral water. He drank deep.

He got dressed quickly. He was going to miss his boxers, but he he'd dealt with much worse. He also found the bucket under his bunk, the purpose for it clear from the roll of toilet paper with it. Felt more like 1200 grit sand paper, but he'd used pine cones before.

"Then they've graduated." She was silent for a moment. "Kurt and Rogue. Are they well?"

"Hope so." He had learned everything he needed to know about this cage. He triggered his claws- they weren't part of his powers, the disk didn't shock him. He slashed at the door, the metal making a shrieking noise. It wasn't like fingernails on the blackboard. More like having his teeth dragged on a blackboard. He'd only heard that a few times, mostly when he and Laura sparred. "Adamantium."

His claws could cut it, sure- thin of enough pieces, or if he hit something like a finger joint where parts came together. He jumped up, grabbing the bars. They shocked him- they looked like iron, but the opening wasn't as wide as his head was. He dropped with a growl after a few seconds- the barrier was as thick as his wrist. The injuries from the current ached for a few seconds, but the pain from the disk made his eyes water.

There was a hall on the other side of the door. All he could see was wall, but he could see similar grills on either side. Someone had staggered the cells, so you couldn't see from one to another. Nice work. He couldn't smell any of the kids. Even the air was still, he couldn't tell which cell had Mystique in it. "So why haven't you broken out?"

"These disks shock you if you use your powers."

Logan grunted- that would explain why she was still here then. And why they hadn't seen her since A-day. There was something that Rogue and Kurt hadn't told anyone behind why they'd been willing to leave her in Egypt. It wasn't like they were far from civilization, they'd had Egyptian police and military not five miles away forming a perimeter. There had been a _few_ perks to working with SHEILD again.

Sometimes. But not right now. He stared at the door, thinking of ways to get out. If only...

He blinked when he was aware of her calling his name. "What now?"

"Tell me about them, how they are. I'm not much of a mother, but I _do_ care about my children."

"Yeah, after trying to kill them you finally care. Kurt and Magnus," no, wait, she wouldn't know that name... "Kurt and Eric talked- the general opinion is that you're a lyin' bitch."

There was silence for several minutes.

"What about my daughter."

"Ha! She knows she was found in the swamp, living by herself and Destiny took her in."

"No Logan. Those memories, Mastermind gave them to her." Logan froze. There was something in her voice. This could be a confession or one of Mystique's crazy lies. "She is really my daughter."

Yep, one of her crazy lies. Logan didn't bother to keep the mocking tone out of his voice. "She's only a few months older than Kurt is, a year at most."

"She is 43 days older." That fit with the days Stripes and the Elf (after talking to Magnus) _thought_ were their birthdays. "And Destiny is her _mother_, not me. We were a couple; Destiny threw me out when she learned of Erik but she kept Rogue."

Logan frowned. But that would mean that... He started laughing. What started as a chuckle soon bent him double. He pounded a fist on the wall, the metal bonging dully as his abs rolled, howling at the joke. "Oh.. oh crap, don't make me laugh like that, it hurts. How can Rogue be Irene's daughter and yo-" He stopped laughing. His eyes were wide at the implication. Mystique was a shapeshifter. A shape shifter that had smelt just like Charles for weeks, right under his nose. "Oh."

"So you believe me, Logan?"

"Logan?"

He didn't have anything more to say.

"Please, Logan, at least tell me she's happy."

OK, maybe one more thing. "She's with Gambit- they make a good couple. I like him, he's a good kid." And it wasn't a lie. It's just that Remy had seen a lot of the world before he ever came to New York, and Logan could remember the gawky freshman girl who shivered as much from the cold as from terror when she asked if she'd be thrown from the _Blackbird._

As he'd thought, Mystique knew Remy, at least by reputation. He smiled as he listened to her rant and rave.

_-neXt_

Remy blinked at the breakfast, a boiled grain porridge sweetened with black tea and sugar, and something that resembled scrapple. "So... Who was screaming in the night?"

The X-men were all scowling. It had sounded like someone being gutted. Laura wanted to see what was happening, it might have been Logan, but Rogue had told her to stand fast. They had immediately take the best defensive posture they had- everyone else hid behind Alex as he stood ready to shoot around and over Laura. There was no running, and the screaming was over with quickly.

"Uhm..." One of the S-4s blushed. "That might have been us."

Laura frowned. She couldn't think of anything that would cause anyone to make that much noise that wasn't violent. "What were you doing?"

Rogue and Kitty both looked at her, Shadowcat turning crimson. She hadn't told anyone about the... invitation. Before anyone could say anything to stop the answer it spilled out. Ida's disclosure was utterly deadpan: "I stabbed him. He likes it."

The clones didn't think anything about it. Most of the X-men were silent. Laura was more than just silent, she was still. She didn't blink. It took Kurt quite a few seconds to notice she might not be breathing. He waved his hand in front of her eyes; that and the lack of reaction got the others attention. After several long seconds, there was choked sob. Laura uncoiled like a spring, not noticing as her chair tipped back.

She knew what Ida and Paul had been doing- she stabbed him. Stabbed him, put her claws to her lover. Laura ran, she didn't care where, she wasn't even watching, looking. She had to run. She had to run now, away from Alex. Laura was X-23. X-23 was Ida. Ida killed her lover. X-23 stabbed her mate. Laura killed Alex. She had, she had, it had been part of the dream. She had killed them all, but she had saved Alex for something special.

Something loving.

Something horrifying.

She'd slowly killed him, mutilating him but keeping him alive while waiting for Logan's return to the Institute.

She ran. She didn't follow any particular path, taking turns at random, not consciously seeing them. She was seeing her friends. Kurt and Kitty dead, together. Rogue, decapitated. Remy, disemboweled and he hadn't even been there the first night. And Alex, bound and tortured, mutilated.

"NO!" Laura slammed into the unseen wall, sliding down it. She curled in on herself, pulling back into the corner, nothing could attack her from behind if she had her back to the walls. She'd see the enemy coming.

"No." It hadn't been real. It had just been a dream. It had been a dream and nothing more. In illusion. A hallucination. A nightmare. A not-real unmemory. "No... I didn't do that."

She shook her head violently, throwing her hair and the tears from before eyes. Eyes open, she had to see, it wasn't safe to not watch the door, even if there was no door.

It hadn't happened. The signs where there. The.. thing that had attacked the Institute the night after the Madroxs had been killed had found the images in her head. Her worst fears. And what her copies could do, would do. What they were. That thing that had haunted them and known Adam so well. Scores of thoughts raced in her mind at once, screaming within her skull, scraping and twisting against eachother.

_If IT had found Adam, then her, was there a plan to attack the Institute? Why hadn't the clones attacked en mass, were the clones in the lab Rogue had seen been part of the plan it wasn't ready yet in which case the X-men still had time, time, time, time hourglasses, hourglasses, asymmetric glass, bigger into smaller time, time, uneven time, more time for the Clones than the X-men, more time more clones. Time to grow time to disappear, be declared overdue, to find the Blackbird, move it, signs, blood, pictures, missing, lost, found, imposters found for the real thing and welcome home, home like Magnus, like her, like Logan, the wild ones, the mad ones made whole._ Her body rocked, arms around her calves, knees up, chin on her knees, eyes wide, unblinking, always watching, always aware, ears listening. _What if IT found her, tried to find her again, got lost found almost her, found Adam, Adam, maybe it found Adam first and learned of her from him, if it fed on nightmares there was nothing here for it to eat. The Professor said nightmares were from guilt, the Clones didnt' have guilt, the X-men had guilt and regrets and were well the clones didn't and were wrong, they were defective, they weren't right. Maybe IT found Adam and found her then came back here and controlled the controllers of the Clones and this was the plan of the thing in the night, IT would feed in a world where the Clones ran free a living nightmare that people couldn't wake up from and HYDRA would rule. Had IT driven Adam mad, would it someday hunt Kurt and Kitty and Sam and the others who spoke to the same god, drive a wedge into the Institute..._

She took a deep breath. She wasn't X-23, she was Laura. She was the clone of Logan, of Logan not Weapon X, Logan the Wolverine. She was Laura Logan, she had friends. Friends who would keep her safe, who could stop her if she went crazy. Who could protect the world from her if it was needed. She could be a human, a person, not a weapon, not a tool, not a thing. Not a monster. They would keep her safe, so long as she could keep them safe.

There was a noise from the shadow. She couldn't be weak in front of her clones. She wanted to curl herself tighter, trying to be small, to be tiny. She stood, her claws out.

"Petite?"Remy paused at the edge of the shadow. She'd led them on a merry chase. They had had to split up, he and Rogue and Kurt. Alex hadn't reacted well to Laura's reaction, he had been threatening none of the clones in particular when Rogue told him to stay there, but Havok's entire body seemed to be glowing as he screamed at the X-23bs and S-4s, with Kitty trying to get him to calm down. They'd all seen Alex like that, as he slept in a doorway guarding Laura- he wasn't quite rational when he got like that. Remy didn't blame him, love made a man different.

Rogue and the Professor had known something might happen, they had a couple of students they kept a close eye on; and they couldn't let Logan know his daughter was one of them. Cheri refused to say why or what, just that it had to do with the images she'd taken from Laura that night this spring. Was it really only a few months ago? Laura looked as haunted and hunted now as then, her eyes wide, breathing hard. Remy had seen those kinds of eyes before. "Laura? Are you ok? Tell me what's wrong, Remy wanna help you."

"I... I..." Laura closed her eyes. The words were wrong. There weren't words for she was seeing in her head. The feeling, the memories. The, the joy she'd felt in her dream of cutting into Alex's flesh. And to find that another her, an unreformed her, still a monster, the mate of a monster, they enjoyed it.

"Laura, it's Remy. I trust you, I know you won't hurt me." Remy felt a little queasy at this. The younger half of the X-men had gone to a workshop on how to handle panicked students. It had seemed to cold and false then, but it required detachment. They had to treat the student as a problem to be contained while constantly providing positive support while not taking it personally themselves. Damnitall, Remy could no be detached. Laura was more than just a student, she was his friend. "What was it, Laura?"

"I... in my dream... i... i." The words started to tumble out, like sticks and stones and chains being poured from a box. The more she talked, the closer she let Remy get until he could stroke her hair like Logan did. She didn't hide herself, she stood at attention like a young soldier giving a report, but without the calmness. She closed her eyes, her head leaning into the fingertips gently. Remy knew he'd taken a gamble- only Logan, Ororo, Alex and sometimes Rogue or Kitty could get away with this, but he could also feel the tension leaving her.

And flowing in him. His jaw tightened. He remembered learning to pick pockets and locks for Jean Luc and the Thieves. Stealing cars by the time he was nine. He knew Laura had killed by that age. Jean Luc had twisted Remy's childhood, but he'd been able to walk away from the Thieves Guild at the price of knowing he could never go back to New Orleans. Someone had done all that and worse to Laura. That she still had a mind, a soul, was amazing. She, Rogue, and he were of a kind, the toy soldiers, orphans who'd been shaped by others for their schemes.

And as he listened, Remy got mad. Not at Laura. Not even at the thing that fed on terror at night. At the people who could do this to her. And Rogue had told them what she'd seen in the Lab, but she'd gotten a mite evasive about names of the cloned. Remy had a horrible feeling it was most all of the X-men. There was no way they could let HYDRA or whoever the absent mad scientists were who had bent Laura and twisted her copies could be allowed to do this to more kids. "It's ok, Laura, you aren't like dat. Ne'er is Alex safer den when he's wit you."

"But... I..." She swallowed. "Is he safe?"

"Petite, Kitty is the only thing keepin' him from tryin' to tear your sisters' throats out."

_-neXt_

Logan was woozie, the world was spinning. He'd been hit with one of the ultrasonic stunners again, the cowards must have hit him while he slept. He growled and sat up. The lights were brighter than he remembered.

"Weapon X, we meet again."

The door was open, with a pair of HYDRA goons crouched just inside it with those damn stunners. Behind them stood Madame HYDRA. His jaw dropped. She was dead, Laura had been certain of it. But there she was, Nazi jackboots, green hair and all. "How the hell..."

"Don't look so surprised."

He got up, watched the two gunmen follow him with the muzzles of their weapons. He clenched his fists, and felt a spike of pain drive through his skull behind his left eye.

"We turned it up some for this little meeting, as a safety measure. I'm sure you understand." She had her hand on her holster, while the other held some kind of remote control. "They took your genes and put them in other people. Surely you remember that."

"Lady, what are you talking about?" He didn't remember sitting on his bunk.

"You, Logan, and Victor. Your wonderful healing factor gene. Oh, we've seen it in others, but yours was amazing, Logan. You were called Weapon X because that project was all about you. Seeing what made you special, or don't you remember? They took it out of you and put it in all kinds of people. Like X-23's mother."

Logan almost spat. "You had Dr Risman killed. She didn't regenerate anything."

"Risman?" Madame Hydra laughed. "She was a mad scientist with delusions of motherhood." Her voice was still filled with mirth. "Poor, obsolete Wolverine with his broken memory. You don't remember Silver Fox any more than you remember Kestral or Mastedon, do you? She was the real mother of X-23- your self healing genes slow your aging, but don't stop it. Hers meant she could be hurt, but if she wasn't killed she'd be forever young. To never get old, to never get hurt- X-23 was the prototype for the new HYDRA soldier. Loyal, lethal, and forever at her peak."

Despite the pain, Logan felt that fluttering sensation in his mind again. After the name he hadn't heard much. Windows opening in the storm, doors closing, wind shifting. He reached out for a memory that danced like a firefly's shadow, just beyond his grasp. He lunged at it, brushing it barely. The picture of a woman, more a girl, like an over exposed negative. She was graceful and lithe with high cheekbones and long black hair. She looked a little like Laura. Then the soap bubble floated away and popped. His headache was back, the one he'd had on Madripoor or in a fight with Creed or when he dealt with Fury, mixing with the pain of the disk.

"Yes Logan, I know all about what Weapon X was. You see, I have the graft of your genes." The green haired woman brushed her hair back- it hid badly pocked and puckered burn scars. "But it was a little late, as you can see. I don't know if I should thank you, or just boil you in oil for a few weeks."

_-neXt_

"Hey, Remy said I'd find you here."

"Go away." Laura stared at movable walls of the training room. "I'm leaving you"

Alex leaned against the catwalk, crossing arms. If he had Kurt's ears, they'd be back right now. "Really."

"You aren't safe with me. That's why I'm leaving you; I'm going to give you to Betsy." It was the logical solution. If she turned into something like her sisters and he wasn't special any more, she'd kill him quickly as only a threat and maybe he wouldn't hesitate and he'd do to her what he'd done to Adam and maybe that was the only reason she thought she loved him or Betsy could take her head off or Rogue could drain her real friends could stop her that was why she trusted-

"I don't believe you." He took a step closer.

"You should. I will hurt you." She backed up. He stepped forward, and she backed up.

"You know that because of a dream?" He swallowed hard. "Or because your sisters are a bunch of freaks? You'll never be like them, Laura."

Laura bumped into the wall. "How do you know it couldn't happen?"

"I know you Laura. Despite all they did to you, all they made you do, they didn't destroy your humanity. You never broke." And he'd read a lot. He'd already made up his mind that he would try to find who that nameless girl that Laura's handlers had selected at random to be her first kill had been. He wanted to do something, even if he never told Laura about it. "The dreams aren't real."

Laura glared at him. She knew dreams weren't real. She tried to control her breathing, but her words were choked. "But I could hurt you."

Alex reached out to her, his hand almost touching, stopping just short of her cheek. His voice was a strained whisper. "I could hurt you too." His thumb traced her cheekbone. "But I never will."

Alex lowered his head as his fingers dipped under her chin, letting his breath stroke her lips for a moment before he pulled back, looking into her eyes. There was fear behind the dark green irises, eyes that so few could read. He'd read them the first time he saw her. The fear and nervousness and the desperation. And the trust. He leaned in, kissing her, softly, slowly, feeling her relax, the tension melting first at her lips, then flowing through her body. He captured her hand in his, holding it as they kissed.

When they finally broke the kiss, Laura looked at the hand he'd been holding. That he'd curled into a fist. And held next to his own throat. She pulled it away from him, before shoving him back. "Idiot. Why did you grab me! What if they popped out!"

"They wouldn't have. Your self control is too great." He grabbed her other hand, holding it in both of his, kissing her knuckles while looking into her eyes. "You _are_ control. I can do nothing to you if you don't want me to, and if you don't want to do something, no one and nothing can make you do it. They tried- your sisters showed me your file, you resisted training, they had to punish you to make you obey, and when you could, you left."

She tugged at her hand- he didn't let it go, but she didn't tug hard, it would have only taken a few more ounces of tension and his fingers did loosen. She didn't want him to let go. And she knew he was right even if some of the details were off. "I changed my mind."

"Oh?"

"I'm not giving you to Betsy." Her free hand tugged softly at his thumb, pulling his hand up to her cheek. They were weapons, for better and for worse. That was part of why she loved him. For as long as she had him, she would hold him and be held by him. To love, to be cherished, this was something that she hadn't been trained for before, but she had good teachers now. "Not yet, at least."

He smiled, resting his forehead against hers, the tips of their noses rubbing. The symbolism and trust of where she had her hand wasn't lost on him. He knew what he'd done to Adam. And oddly it didn't bother him now. "Thats good." He stiffened a little. "We're being watched" he whispered.

"Rogue." She pulled back a little.

Even if it was his friends, he still whispered. "Love you."

"I know."

_-neXt_

Kurt put the rambling, babbling handwritten notes down. "Gott in himmel. This is insane."

Kitty looked over her shoulder. "Yeah... Aubry thinks this guy was crazy." Her fingers were on the slim, demonic swordsman. "Any idea what all this is from? How did he know about us?"

They had gone to Adam's cell to reexamine the X-24's notes and drawings. Apparently he'd had long conversations about the nature of man with the mysterious Mr Kravinoff. In time that had turned to religion. There were translations of holy books and religious teaching in half a dozen languages and often of a fundamentalist bent, but mostly Russian or English. They could be explained, just like the weapons in the training room and the food- so long as the X-men could get supplies, Kurt wasn't sure if they weren't about to reach a point where they couldn't take over the Institute if something horrible happened to the Professor and the other senior instructors. The clones were the same way. What was beyond explication was Adam's drawings.

"Maybe there vhas another mutation in X-24's powers." Of course, if that was the case, a clairvoyant version of Logan was one of the most unnerving ideas Kurt had had in a while. "Or maybe vhe aren't supposed to know."

Shadowcat snorted.

"Vhat? There is more than just good in the world." An evil part of Kurt's mind whipped his tail up, slapping the spaded tip into his hand. He blushed. The evil part laughed at him, tempting him ideas more fitting for one looking such as he did. Nightcrawler looked at the mural, charcoal on white concrete. Unlike the others, there was nothing to interpenetrate- the image for him was his face. Well, almost, there was a pointy goatee beard, like the one he'd thought about growing once. For a little while, before he decided it would be too demonic looking.

"Kitty... can I tell you something?"

"Anything."

He took the three steps needed to hug her, wrapping his arms around her. "I haven't been this scared since Apocalypse."

She embraced him, tightly, as tightly as he would let her. "Me too."

_-neXt_

"Remy..." Rogue sighed, shaking her head. "Damnit."

"What?"

"it isn't anything yah did. It just means we have to keep a closer eye on Laura." She sighed again. "She might be a danger to herself. Or others. An' I hate it."

Remy pulled her closer, meaning to hug her. He stopped when he felt her hands on his chest, but they didn't push him away. He kept his hands on her shoulders until she let the resistance pass, falling into him. She took a deep breath of his scent as his chin rested on the top of head, protected by her hair from her powers. "Jus hold me, Swamprat."

"Don' fret Cheri. Remy don' gotten out of fixes tighter dan dis 'fore. Bet Laura has to." He smiled. "Dis' ain no worse from Area 51, is it?"

"A little." She smirked- he hadn't even been there.

"We gettin' out of here."

"Yes." She pulled back, looking up at him. "I have a plan, but... it might not work."

"If it don?"

"Then I'm dead."

He didn't pause the way he usually did, giving her an out. Remy wrapped his arms around Rogue tight, pulling her back to him. She yelped in surprise as she was crushed to him.

_-neXt_

Logan looked up at the ceiling of the cell. He could only think of two or three times he'd wanted something this bad. Or maybe prayed. The first was when he left the kids to pull most of the gunships away from the cave where Scott had them hiding. He'd had to piss Scott first so he wouldn't follow- that sucked. He still hadn't told Scott the truth, only Charles, Ororo and Hank. The other was when he'd heard X-23 had hit the Institute. OK, three- damning HYDRA for stealing Laura's eggs. Maybe she could regenerate them, but she didn't think it was likely. She wasn't even mad that as far as she was concerned they'd made sure she'd never be a mother if that was what she wanted, and she'd live a long time. At this moment, he'd have traded his apparent immortality to have these damn kids back home, asleep, safely tucked into bed, and they'd pick up the peices later if SHIELD hadn't.

Damnit.

But this was part of why he'd brought them. They would fight for eachother. If it was just one of them, they might give up- they all had their doubts and fears. But they would fight for the ones they loved.

Damnit.

But he couldn't leave them behind, could he? If he could bring his students along based on who was kissing whom, maybe he should have brought 'Ro. But would he have to choose between her and one of the kids? A nagging voice whispered at him, asking if he could choose between Storm or Kitty or Kurt or Rogue or even Remy. Hell, that was why Alex did what he did.

It was why Scott had given him that damn letter. It would have been easier to send Slim2 back. All of them back, just him and Laura. Send them back with the _Blackbird_, and the two of them would smuggle themselves into Russia. He'd done it before when he was with SHEILD, before the Institute. Just the two of them. Wolverine and Cub- yes, he'd heard what some called Laura, but he hadn't told them- vs HYDRA and an army of clones and anything else the world would throw at them.

"Damnit."

He shook his head. As great as his fear for the kids was, just as strong was the fear that Laura woudl regress. She'd changed over the past year a lot. The night before they'd left, she'd been on the kitchen detail- Hank had told him privately that she'd used a knife to carve those chickens, she'd never popped her claws. She still woke up to walk with him at night, some times, but not often. She and Alex and some of the others had even made plans to go to a concert, some rock and roll show. She was acting like a normal kid, and even if it was an act sometimes, she was happy. He could smell it. She was sane. And if she slipped back... would they get her back?

"Damn me."

_-neXt_

Her friends had spent the day moving like they were walking on glass. It was... It wasn't annoying; Laura was annoyed with herself, not them. Maybe it was embarrassment, but she wasn't sure as it wasn't an emotion she had a lot of experience with. But her clones had surprised her- they weren't all alike for once. Some of them looked at her with disdain, like she was weak; the others looked at her with pity.

Were they really her clones? Laura's hand absently pressed against her abdomen as she asked herself the question she'd asked since she first saw the picture of another her. She had instantly dismissed it, there hadn't been enough time. But with what Rogue described, she wasn't sure. When she'd been at the facility she'd been raised in, the scientists would talk around her like she was another experiment or a piece of equipment. Sometimes they'd mention "maturation chambers" and "artificial wombs". She had asked Forge what he knew about such things- it had frightened her. It made her wonder if she was as old as she thought.

Were they really her clones? Or had HYDRA perfected the ability to grow a human being faster than nature? Could they really be that young? She'd had her reproductive cells harvested after the mission in Keraadistan , fearing they'd been damaged by the radiation. It had only been a few years, but if the technology worked, it would be possible. In theory they could have been regenerated, but she didn't think it likely for several reasons.

If they were her clones, they'd be exactly like her. Even excluding their age and height, there were differences. They had trained every day they'd been here, with them. The X-men had held back, to appear weaker- it had been Kurt's idea- and she knew that the clones had done so as well. That was why her friends were still alive, they'd been played with. But she'd seen enough- the X-23bs were stronger than she was, yet no more muscular, and heavier than they should be. That told her that they were denser. She watched them cutting steel, nothing she couldn't have done, but they were faster, as sure of claw as Logan with his adamantium skeleton. She only had human bones, the lacing had been applied only to her claws. And their flesh yielded less to blows, their muscles were denser, they could easily jump the four meters from the bottom of the training room to the catwalk, something she couldn't do despite being lighter. Remy had said that the S-4s showed similar improvements.

There had been tinkering with her genes. She was Logan's clone, but improved. At least some people said so. But she returned to a thought that she'd had before- she wasn't an exact copy. So she couldn't be a clone. She failed at being a clone. Did they also fail her, or was it possible that they could like her find that they craved the knowledge of their origin. Or was that what they meant when they said she was incomplete, she had been without peers and that was why she'd needed to know about her origin. In that case, the clones could never be turned away from each other. The question still remained- did they stand with HYDRA or just themselves? She hadn't heard a "hail HYDRA" or seen a single tentacled insignia since Maddripoor.

Would they be loyal to the children Rogue had told them about. She had an image of the X-men, all of the X-men, duplicated and hybridized. An X-Army. With someone like Aubry at it's head, it could change the world. And not for the better. The war the Professor and Magnus feared so would happen. She tried to imagine such a conflict.

"Laura."

Laura looked up at the sound of her voice. She saw William, but she was mostly looking at her... her what? Clone? Sister? Daughter? William and Aubry, they looked at her with utter contempt. Laura could also smell fear on the eldest of the X-23bs. She quirked her eyebrow.

"You're weak, Runt." William's voice was harsh. Laura flashed back to the one time she'd met Sabertooth. The voice was close to what she imagined his being like angry; the original had been more surprised. His mate continued. "You are pathetic. I would call you broken, but you were never right to begin with. We were raised that the eldest should lead, but you are a farce, a failure."

"You fear that I want to take your place as leader of the X-23s." Laura shook her head. "I want my friends to be set free. And Logan. That's all."

"So noble," Aubry's lips sneered, "you don't care about yourself at all? Then you won't stop me from doing this." The foot snapped up flat from the floor without windup.

Laura shifted as soon as she recognized the tensing of the muscles in the other warrior's side, ducking William's wild slash. Normally, one trained fighter had the advantage in a fight like this, but only because normally the two she'd be fighting wouldn't know how to work together. One would distract and let the other get behind you, or grapple and hold you, while the other then attacked a stationary target. Clumsy, amateurish. But there were few who had been trained this intensively to work as a team. Laura could do it with Logan or Betsy well enough, although the latter cheated with telepathy. Even with Alex, she could coordinate to some degree, but not well enough for something like this. Scott and Jean could do it well; Kurt and Kitty as were good but played too much. But Aubry and William had known nothing else. Laura twisted and spun, weaving her body through space.

Laura was silent in contrast with the snarls and growls of the improved models. Feint and strike, duck and twist. Anyone could learn to fight in two dimensions; walls, air, the ceiling, all were used, fighting beyond three dimensions, they were all trained to read an enemy, see the fight that hadn't been yet, five, six strikes ahead, reaction becoming action. Muscles and tendons and bones and claws and blood, a primal tongue. Their first language, punctuated with sprays of red, sparks of blue.

Laura yowled as the claw slid between the bones of her lower leg and slashed down to her ankle. The pain was intense, and staggered her. It was already healing, but was all the time that was needed for William to wrap his arms around her neck in a sleeper hold. She snapped her head back, feeling him grunt as much as hearing it, but he didn't let go. Instead, he stood to the fullest of his height, leaving Laura's feet a foot of the ground, an arm like steel against her windpipe, claws digging into her skull as palmed her head, pushing it forward. Laura tried to slash at him, but he had fought all the X-23s but her in training- he knew where she could reach.

Laura felt fear as her vision tunneled. She aimed a cut at Aubry's head only to have it blocked with ease. She was aware of the amount of oxygen getting to her brain- she'd been drowned in training, hung, and even crushed. She knew this feeling. She kicked out, weakly.

Aubry batted the foot aside, then a hand. "Pathetic." She lunged, spearing adamantium through the bone and cartilage of Laura's chest wall, into the heart. "And I'll prove it- you won't survive the process. I'm going to finish your bones, it should kill you."

And it should. Aubry had reviewed everything she had in her personal collection of information about the adamantium bone lacing process, both this version and the Weapon X program. Aubry had watched the others undergoing the procedure, she remembered which switch and lever had been thrown when, what the dials had read. The process had ruined Adam's sanity, and had killed many subjects during Weapon X. And if that didn't kill the defective prototype, well, it wasn't the only thing in the Lab.

Laura's eyes closed, body going limp. Normally, William would not have fallen for it, but this time he'd make an exception after his mate's wrist twisted, cutting out the heart of the original X-23. "The Lab?"

"The Lab." Aubry dropped the half kilo of meat on the floor. "We have maybe 20 minutes before she regenerates that."

_-neXt_

The screaming startled Logan. The second shriek was definitely Laura. And she was in pain, and afraid. "LAURA!" He grabbed at the window bars, snarling at the pain is they shocked him. "LAURA!"

The screaming continued as long as the current did. Then he passed out, falling back on the floor.

He woke to the sound of the door opening. "You bastards! What did you do to my daughter!"

The guards said nothing. This time there was a man with Madame Hydra. "Logan, Logan, we were doing nothing to her but helping her. Weren't we Doctor."

The man had long, lank hair and small spectacles. His white lab coat was splattered with blood and other bodily fluids. "Yes, Ma'am. It is a pleasure to see you again, Weapon X."

The guards fired their stunners as Logan started to move. The sonics and the pain of the override disk put him on his knees. "You... Who are you, bub?"

"I was one of your doctors once, Logan. Then I worked with Sarah Risman. Now, I'm just the Doctor. And you and I and Victor are all grandfathers." The man removed a pair of cigars from his pocket, tossing one onto Logan's bunk, a single white tipped match tied to it with pink ribbon. "It's a girl."

After everything, Logan hadn't thought it would get weirder. "What?"

The Doctor clipped the tip from his cigar as he and Madame Hydra stepped back. She motioned with her fingers. "Come here, children. Show us the future of Weapon X."

A young woman in her teens stepped into view, wearing a hospital gown.

"Laura!" No, it wasn't. This one was too tall. "Who are you?"

"Hello, Wolverine." The X-23 walked oddly, but the reason why was obvious. A new born baby, it's head still pointy, lay in her arms. The infant was awake, her eyes moving, already perceiving the world with eyes the same color blue as Logan's. The fine fuzz of blond hair was the same color as Victor's. A teenaged Creed wearing a chain of boars teeth and bear claws stood behind her, hands protectively on her shoulders, glancing from Logan with defiance and a little bit of fear, to the child with wonder and pride.

Logan could only look. He'd already seen proof of the copies, but this...

No.

The Doctor gently puffed his cigar into life, stoking the the murella to life. The spiced and rum soaked Cuban leaf was fragrant and rich.

Logan sat back with a thud.

Two little blue eyes focused on the source of the sound. A tiny hand reached out at him. Logan hadn't been around a lot of little babies, but he had seen a lot of human bones. Hands. There was delta-like wedge of bone forming under the back of her hand. And her fingernails were already dark.

_-neXt_

Laura had been missing almost eight hours now. Half of the clones knew nothing, and the other half weren't talking. They needed answers. This wasn't the way the X-men were supposed to act, but right now, things were desperate. They'd already sworn to never tell Logan or the Professor what they were about to do. Especially Xavier- it would break his heart.

Rogue was had been talking herself into being mad at the situation. They'd killed Dr Risman. They'd tried to kill her and her friends. They'd murdered innocents trying to kill her. Held them captive. But the worst part, the thing that she's focused on most in her anger was that the X-23bs and S-4s could touch the people they loved. They could kiss and hug and hold eachother and make love.

And they were noisy about it.

All these things she'd never be able to do, and these killers, these murderers could do all of them. She could no long doubt Remy's loyalty, his love and devotion. That made the longing all that much worse for her. To be able to touch. That was why she didn't want to know if Kitty and Kurt or Laura and Alex or Logan and Storm were... Damnit! It had been such a large part of why she'd hated Jean at first. She didn't need much- she just wanted to be able feel Remy's bare fingers stroke her cheek, his lips on hers and not be afraid she'd kill him.

She was pissed. And she knew she was going to get madder. This was so wrong, but it was the only time that they could think of where one of the clones would be off guard enough. This was Kitty's idea, and how the hell did Kitty know about this kind of thing? If Kurt hadn't blushed, she'd blame Lance, but no, no, to save the day, Kitty had had to break the most rigid rule of their friendship- Rogue didn't want to know about her brother's sex life. Yeah, that hadn't helped her not be pissed.

If revenge was a dish best served cold, this was justice, served hot.

Rogue opened the door, she had a few seconds but no more. Three steps to the bed. She grabbed the Paul by the back of the neck as he cuddled with his mate, still breathing hard. He stiffened, back arching, the covers falling away. Rogue clenched her jaw as the emotions and memories and powers slammed into her- the glow of emotions smashed into her like a wrecking ball, as the spear of ice pierced her forehead from the disk.

Ida needed only two seconds to realize they were under attack. She didn't disentangle herself from the weight the body on top off her; instead, she punched into Rogue's side, claws shooting out. The pain forced the breath from Rogue's lungs, her legs collapsing, dropping into the piled bodies in the bed. She had enough presence of mind to grab the X-23b's wrist, holding on with an iron grip while the disk lashed at her. The S-4's claws dug into the arm he could see as all three of them twitched. The disk was beeping, the one second warning from the neural override device before the termination charge fired.

There was a pop like a dropped egg from the small explosive charge as it fired, pushing her skull inward and throwing her head back as a jet of molten copper seared through her skull. A mist of bone, blood and vaporized hair formed as she fell limp, a death grip on her targets as the three convulsed.

The healing factor went to work instantly, shaping bone, mending nerves, closing and repairing skin and muscle and blood vessel. When Rogue became aware, she jerked herself away reflexively. She felt slightly empty, a vague nothingness that she hadn't planned on. There was regret, but it was part of what had to be done. It reminded her of some of the echoes she still carried from Logan.

Her eyes weren't quite in focus and she was dizzy, but she could stand. She looked at her hands- great, she had gone she-wolf. Yeah, the S-4s were Sabertooth's copies. She felt an ear twitch, and her hair was longer now. She touched her face- she still had one, and it felt like the one she was used to. Pointy ears- damnit.

She looked at the bed, pressing the back of her wrist to her lips. The lovers lay there, together. She checked- no pulse, no spark from either. Their skin was drawn, tight, like they'd begun to mummify. She'd just killed two people in their bed, as they did something she never could, after planning and waiting. It was deliberate. It was planned. It was cold blooded murder.

And she felt nothing as she crossed the hall. It was empty. She opened the door to the room they shared.

Remy blanched when he saw her. There was blood on her clothing, and other things, soft and fleshy looking. He'd known it was going to be a race to see which she got first- an explosive headache or the healing factor that would let her survive. He swallowed hard- his Queen of Hearts had had her head blown off or damn near. That wasn't something a gentleman would take lightly. He hadn't stopped her because he had faith. He swallowed again, feeling a lump rise in his throat, the acid from his stomach burning it. He wouldn't let her do this again, not alone, not without him. He'd rather be dead than risk her like this again. He blinked forcing the tears back. From the corners of his eyes, he knew he wasn't the only one.

Her voice was rough as she peeled off the shirt, tossing it in the corner as a pale Kitty passed her a clean one. Now was not the time for shyness, and she was feeling the confidence of an S-4 along with her normal self. "What? Ah look that bad?"

Remy forced his face to relax, to smile. "Nah, Cheri. You look sexy hot as a furry."

Rogue growled as she blushed. The fur on her arms and legs rose as she grabbed the pen from her pocket. Before she could explode at Remy, Kurt laughed and lightly smacked his friend on the back of the head with his tail. . "Jah, it runs in my family- you dig da sexy beasts?"

Rogue bit back the flash of anger, telling herself it wasn't her. "Would yah two shut up? Kurt, stop squirming." Rogue worked the tiny switches with the tip of her pen, and the suction released. She caught the disk as it fell. "Remy, yur next suga. We don't have much time before they find the bodies. If anything, they'll smell mah blood."

There was a soft hiss as the door opened. "We had not planned on that- it is darker than we expected from X-men."

**Authors notes:**

Still with me? Good. Told you it was going to be wild ride- sound off it you dug it, or if didn't. I hate to beg for reviews, but... I'll hit my knees if I have to. *laughs* The last chapter got 100 hits in under 50 hours, but one review. Is there something that isn't working?

OK, Bombshell number one. One of the origins for Rogue was that she wasn't adopted, but that Irene was her mother and Raven her father. The editorial staff at Marvel deep-sixed it as way too controversial. It is controversial enough that I'm keeping it. It makes Rogue more than just untouchable- by the narrow standards of much of the western world, that makes her a kind of monster, literally a bastard without a father. To me, it makes her The Rogue, unique and defined by nothing but herself.

Wait a second. Wasn't Mystique in disguise when Kurt and Rogue graduated?

Bombshell number whatever. A child, the third generation of the Weapon X. The merger of House Wolverine and the pack of Sabertooth.

Biggest bombshell. Yeah. In the words of Jose Wales, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. Plumb, mad-dog mean. Weapon X mean. I mean X-Force mean.


End file.
